KEYPOINTS:
- Indonesia will distribute cheap cooking oil and analyze its effectiveness using its COVID-19 monitoring application.
- The president's COVID-19 immunization certificate was released online in September 2021, coinciding with a data breach impacting 1.3.
Indonesia's COVID-19 tracker has expanded its responsibilities. Citizens now use it to buy affordable cooking oil amid a local shortage.
Indonesia Uses COVID-19 Tracker to Check Oil Subsidy Efficacy
In order to verify that its subsidies are effective, Indonesia will distribute inexpensive cooking oil using the Covid-19 monitoring software.
According to Rachmat Kaimuddin, the acting deputy at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesians can purchase up to 10 kilograms of subsidized cooking oil each day using the PeduliLindungi app. Kaimuddin also served as the startup company PT Bukalapak.com's president and director.
PeduliLindungi allows users to scan QR codes to verify their health and vaccination status when entering buildings.
He also said on Tuesday, June 28, that since PeduliLindungi verifies user IDs when individuals scan QR codes, the app would display green, indicating that they may purchase cooking oil, or red, indicating that they have reached their limit.
Millions of consumers and small business owners in the fourth most populous country in the world have been alarmed for months by increasing cooking oil costs, which began around three weeks after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
In order to lower local costs and maintain its ability to export edible oils, Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, has pushed for a more excellent distribution of affordable cooking oil. When he declared an embargo on all exports of cooking oil in April owing to a scarcity locally, President Joko Widodo put the market into a tailspin before revoking it a few weeks later.
Indonesian COVID Monitoring App Exposed President's Vax Records
This mobile application will provide color-coded information on the COVID-19 status of the users based on the data-sharing of its location. Black indicates infection; red indicates incomplete immunization status; yellow indicates first dose immunization, and green indicates complete vaccination. Due to the app's ability to tell you which hue predominates in a given area, the colors will also be used to assist you in identifying the crowd.
Additionally, the PeduliLindungi mobile app may keep the user's digital COVID-19 immunization and test certificates, saving the user time from having to create physical documentation. The software also includes e-HAC, an electronic health alert card that will assist in providing the user with essential papers and avoiding unwanted physical touch if they are traveling.
The application shows dates and kinds of vaccinations given, together with confidential biodata. For both entering malls and flying, it is necessary.
However, the president's COVID-19 vaccination certificate was leaked online in September 2021, which coincided with a data breach affecting 1.3 million users of this government contact tracing tool and raised concerns about information security in Indonesia.
The immunization records of President Joko Widodo were obtained through the app PeduliLindungi (care protect) and extensively disseminated on social media, which caused experts to doubt the government's dedication to data protection.
The government said that it was looking into a bug in a previous version of the app that exposed the data of nearly 1.3 million users. It happened a few months after a state insurer was accused of mishandling social security numbers.
Several social media users raised a dilemma about the application's shortcomings when it was declared necessary last August.
