India's Contact Tracing App Is All But Mandatory. So This Programmer Hacked It So That He Always Appears Safe.

[perugu_vada]

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/india-aarogya-setu-hacked
 

“I didn’t like the fact that installing this app is slowly becoming mandatory in India,” said Jay, who requested a pseudonym to speak freely. “So I kept thinking of what I could personally do to avoid putting it on my phone.”

 

By 1 p.m., the app had become a harmless shell, collecting no data but still flashing a green badge declaring that the user was at low risk of infection.

“That was my goal,” said Jay. “I succeeded. You can show the green badge to anyone if they ask to check your phone and they won’t be able to tell.”

 

Will I be booked if I don’t have [the] Aarogya Setu [app] installed on my phone?” someone asked on Reddit earlier this week.

“Make it your wallpaper lol,” someone replied. “Worked for a friend in Delhi.”

[Pitta]