COVID-19 Quarantine Alert System: Geo Fencing application to locate Quarantine Violators
The Department of Telecommunications has issued Standard Operating Procedure for the use of COVID-19 Quarantine Alert System (CQAS). The CAQS is an application used to track COVID-19 patients who have violated quarantine.
Highlights
The application was developed by DoT and C-DoT (Centre for Development of Telematics). The app collects phone data of the quarantine violator and alerts a local agency. The application uses Geo-Fencing technology.
Geo-Fencing
The Geo-Fencing technology uses software such as RFID, GPS, Wi-Fi to trigger a pre-programmed module. The technology allows to set up a virtual boundary called “Geo Fence”. When a mobile enters of exits the geofence, the pre-programmed module starts running. The program then sends alerts to authorised agencies.
The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885
The Centre uses the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 to gain powers to fetch information about the quarantined persons from the telecom companies. The information is obtained every 15 minutes. The Section 5 of the act authorises both the state and central governments to gain information about the phone users.
Related Posts
Month: Current Affairs - April, 2020