After conducting a trial run of the app, which was required for vaccinated people to access certain public facilities in designated regions, the government is planning to apply the system across Indonesia.

“The [implementation of] digital-based health protocols via PeduliLindungi is key to preventing a recurrence of the difficult times we faced in July," Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said this week, referring to the second surge of infections that was fueled by a more virulent Delta variant and devastated the country.

How does it work?

PeduliLindungi is a digital health data system that will access the user's location every 10 minutes to create a history of travel and close contacts.

It assigns each user a color code that dictates whether the person may enter public places or not. Black is for those who recently tested positive for COVID-19 or have been in close contact with an infected person; red for people who are healthy but have not been vaccinated; yellow for healthy people who have received their first dose of the vaccine; and green for fully vaccinated people who are healthy.

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The use of the app is generally mandatory in Java and Bali, either as part of a trial run in certain regions or a mandatory tool in others, according to prevailing Home Ministry regulations on the implementation of the multitiered PPKM policy.

In a trial run for restaurants serving diners indoors in Jakarta, Bandung in West Java and Surabaya in East Java, all of which are under the second-strictest level 3 curbs, PeduliLindungi must be used to screen employees and guests. They must also operate at only 25 percent capacity.

The use of the app is also mandatory in shopping centers in cities and regencies imposing PPKM levels 3 and 2, and in cultural and sports venues in regions under level 2 curbs.

It is also in place as a trial run for shopping centers in all parts of Yogyakarta, all of which are under the strictest PPKM level 4.

Workers in critical sectors such as export-oriented industries, energy, logistics and public construction should also use the app before entering offices and factories starting on Tuesday.

The app must also be used for the premier soccer league Liga 1, particularly to keep tabs on athletes, officials and media workers entering and exiting venues, both for matches and training sessions.

The Jakarta administration, which has fully inoculated 64 percent of its targeted population, has taken the policy further by requiring proof of vaccination — accessible either via PeduliLindungi or the city's smart city app Jakarta Kini (JAKI) — to use the MRT.

Outside Java and Bali, the use of PeduliLindungi for everyday activities is optional in regions implementing any levels of the PPKM until next week. These regions can implement the necessary health protocols as an alternative to the app.

"Later on, the PeduliLindungi app will be used for screening at [more] public facilities and its coverage will continue to increase gradually, nationwide,” national COVID-19 task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmita told The Jakarta Post.

What do experts say?

Epidemiologists find digital screening and contact tracing essential for Indonesia, considering its large population and the high mobility of its people.

“In principle, it makes sense. With technology that can build real-time databases, we can find out who [hasn't been vaccinated] or is at risk [of infection], so we can limit their mobility,” said epidemiologist Riris Andono Ahmad at Gadjah Mada University.

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Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman from Griffith University in Australia said digital surveillance would be useful, especially to prevent a potential new cluster of infections.

Luhut said the app had prevented some 462,000 red-labeled users from entering public places as of Sunday when the app had more than 13 million registered users.

Use of app should not be mandatory

At the same time, however, experts are concerned about unreliable data management and personal data security, particularly after the recent alleged data breach of the now-defunct electronic Health Alert Card (eHAC) system.

They also said PeduliLindungi could not process data on vaccinations received abroad.

Therefore, they said, making it mandatory when problems persisted could lead to discrimination against certain people, including those who don't have a smartphone and internet connection, as well as people with disabilities.

“Even in Jakarta, there are several blank spots and not everyone can afford a smartphone,” Dicky said.

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Some people have complained that they could not access PeduliLindungi because it frequently crashed or was slow to load. Many others who have been fully vaccinated said they could not find their vaccination records on the app, while some remain reluctant to use it over privacy fears.

Prima Nurahmi, 36, who traveled from Jakarta to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Aug. 24 was unable to run the app when she had to present her digital health records at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten. In the end, she had to process it manually.

Wiku assured, without elaborating, that the government would devise alternative strategies.