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- Online Personal Loan Apps Collect Contacts & Location: Risks Of Data Theft And Harassment In India
New Delhi41 minutes ago
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Taking an online personal loan has become very easy these days. Just upload PAN, Aadhaar and bank statement and the money is credited to your account within minutes. As simple as this feature may seem, it can also be risky.
In fact, while applying for a loan, you not only give information about your earnings, but also unknowingly give access to your identity, spending habits and sometimes even your personal contacts to Apsco.
Online apps like middlemen, danger of data theft
Most people do not look at where they are applying for the loan. There is a world of difference between a well-known bank or a registered NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) and a random loan app. Banks are bound by RBI regulations and are regularly audited.
At the same time, many instant-loan apps are only middlemen. Their job is to collect your data and sell it further. In such a situation, your data passes through many hands, due to which the risk of privacy increases.
It is not necessary to provide access to contacts and gallery
Loan apps often ask for access to your phone’s contacts, call logs, photos and location. There is no need for these things to check credit score. It has been seen in old cases that when people could not repay the loan on time, these apps harassed their relatives and friends by calling them.
Although the regulators have tightened the noose on this, it has not been completely eradicated. If an app is asking for unnecessary permissions, then understand that something is wrong.
Data is not deleted even after loan is rejected
Often people think that if the loan is not received then the data is safe, but it is not so. Your documents and IDs remain stored on the servers of these companies for years.
In the privacy policy, permission is taken to share the data with its partners or vendors in the name of ‘business purpose’ or ‘analysis’. This is why once you apply for a loan, you get flooded with unwanted calls and spam messages.
Click on ‘Agree’ only after reading the terms and conditions.
When someone is in dire need of money, he often clicks ‘Agree’ without reading the privacy policy or terms and conditions.
Promises like no questions asked or instant approval may seem tempting, but your privacy is being sacrificed behind them. In the era of digital loans, your speed can outweigh your security.
What to do if data is being misused?
If any company is making threatening calls to you or sending messages to your close ones, then first of all take screenshots of all those things. Immediately turn off the app’s permissions and uninstall it. After this, lodge a complaint on the company’s complaint portal and then in the RBI Ombudsman or Cyber Cell. This is not just bad behaviour, but a legal offence.
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Personal loans increased by 23% in 6 months: There was a decline of 3% a year ago, April-September new credit cards issued were 28% less.
There has been a major change in the trends of loans for home, car or other consumer needs in the country between April and September. According to the report of JM Financials, consumption based bank loans have increased after the slowdown of the last financial year.
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