Are you an open book?

How we knowingly & unknowingly share information through various apps and services we use daily

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A FEW WEEKS ago, Sanjay Lal, a resident of Gurugram's DLF Phase 3 towers, started a movement in his gated society against the usage of apps like MyGate, NoBrokerhood, and ADDA Gatekeeper. He had recently contested in the Haryana assembly elections as an independent candidate, and would have people from all walks of life come and meet him at his residence. Lal alleged in media reports that his privacy was breached when information about who all were visiting his place was made available to his neighbours through one such gate app. Since then, he's been pushing the society's association to cancel its agreement with the app they use.

The age of the internet. The digital world. The post-truth era. Adages like these are often used to describe the times we live in. To be fair, none of them are inaccurate. In today's times, probably the most valuable assets that people have (which would be an indispensable part of their earthquake kits) are their phones, laptops, and smart devices. We wake up looking at these screens, and go to sleep looking at them too. But there's another proverb used every so often about the 'digital age' — Privacy is a myth.