This privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") in this context governs the access and usage of the Corona Virus Alert App (COVA). COVA Punjab Mobile App is an initiative of Government of Punjab to manage the COVID-19 related data and information dissemination. The Policy describes and determines how COVA (referred to as Government of Punjab or We/Us or Our) handles and/or deals with your (referred to as You or Your or User or individual on whose behalf App is used) personal, usage and location information in accordance with the applicable laws of India (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Personal Informational".

COVA refers to the services being provided through COVA App. Through COVA, you can access Preventive care information, advisories and apply for restricted services during COVID-19. You can use COVA application to locate nearby Medical Institutions, nearby patient/hotspot and district wise Nodal officers. It also aims to share alerts with you and to Administrative staff by locating the COVID-19 suspects and healthy individuals in order to avoid the spread of disease. You can also reach out to state Helpline using this App. The COVA App can also be used to monitor, co-ordinate & facilitate the Field Staff, who have been deputed on Official duty so as to ensure effective executions of the assigned tasks.

The services offered via this App is to ease citizens to access related government emergency services (during COVID-19) or Government to govern the pandemic situations.

This Privacy Policy inter alia determines and explains:

  • What all types of information are collected from you?
    • Your personal, demographic, location, device and other similar information may be collected. The information collected by us shall depend on the services made available on the application and may vary from time to time, which will be informed through changes in this policy.
    • Your usage details may be used for the necessary analytics purpose in order to provide you with location-based services, enhance your experience, alert you in case you come in close proximity of COVID-19 suspect and alerts Administrative officers in case Home Quarantined person/COVID-19 suspect moves away from his/her base location.
  • How do we use Individual’s Personal Information and/or collected usage data/statistics?
    • Individual’s Personal Information shall help us customize the service(s) offering and use the same in case one turn COVID-19 positive/suspect.
    • Device and location information shall help us in better analyzing the data, adapting the content/display as per your device, make better statistics, and/or recommending/delivering you the services/information according to your location, usage etc. Location tracking data and Bluetooth based contact tracing is used to alert individual and administrative staff.
    • Contact Tracing via Bluetooth is envisaged in case the individuals keep their bluetooth active. In case someone, who is positive or suspect of COVID-19 comes near to you, you get an alert for same (without disclosing the identity to each other).
    • Permission of Bluetooth, Camera (Click Picture), READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission are required to provide your related services like:
      • Camera, Images, Audio and Video: COVA Punjab uses camera to capture the pictures of documents or to set up your profile picture. Access to Images, Audio and Video is required for the users to be able to upload the files as and when required by the user for services in the application.
      • Location & Bluetooth: COVA Punjab app tracks location and reads the bluetooth in the background and saves it on your phone securely for 15 days. Data is uploaded to the server in case you are marked COVID 19 positive so that contact tracing can be identified or warn you in case you come closer to Covid -19 patient/suspect. Please provide Location and Bluetooth permission so that we may provide you with relevant information.
      • Storage Permission: COVA Punjab uses read internal/external storage permission to read the images, audio, video and files.
  • How do we handle/manage your Personal Information?
    • All your personal information shall be stored in secured environment and shall only be shared with our Administrative Officers/staff or registered Service Providers on the need basis to deliver the requested services/reports.
    • None of your Personal Information shall be shared with any other individual and/or any other party without your express consent except that required by or under applicable laws.
    • Except for the purposes mentioned above, most of the collected Personal Information shall only be used for user categorization/classifications for the purpose of analytics.

We collect, receive, possess or store the Personal Information to enable us to serve you effectively and to enable us to provide more personalized and enhanced experience to you.

  • We collect information such as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, domain name, browser type, Operating System, Date and Time of the visit, pages visited, IMEI/IMSI number, device ID, location information, language settings, handset make & model etc.
  • If you simply delete/remove the COVA application from your mobile device, you shall continue to be a registered user of COVA and we shall continue to send you all promotions/newsletters/notifications that are required to reach out to you as part of medical campaigns.
  • Personal information as submitted and/or captured may be shared with law enforcement agencies and other Government departments if we have a good faith/belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:
    • Meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable government request.
    • Enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations.
    • Detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
    • Protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of COVA System, other users or the public as required or permitted by law.
  • It will be a constant endeavour to protect the system from unauthorized access or unauthorized alterations, disclosure or destruction of information. In particular, all the information will be held in encrypted form and the communication channels for accessing the portal and transfer of data are encrypted using SSL as permissible under the law. Further, OTP based authentication has been deployed at App level to ensure authenticity of the user.