What Swiggy, Zepto & Cred know about your phone

<p>In March this year, a software developer that goes by Pea Bee online published a blog rather ominously titled ‘Everyone knows all the apps on your phone’. </p><p><br />He found that several Indian app-based startups are flouting rules of Google Play—Android’s app store—to access people’s data.  In particular, some apps use a workaround to scrutinise the names and usage patterns of other apps on people’s phones. In real time.</p><p>Now, the fact that apps have a lot of your data may not be a surprise to you. We’ve been pretty cavalier about our data for some time now. Remember Digi Yatra? </p><p><br /></p><p>But the scary thing is that Indian companies are equally nonchalant about the user data they collect. The result? Data-security breaches have been on the rise. </p><p>So what is a data conscious Indian customer to do? </p><p><br />Tune in. <br /><em><br />*This episode was originally published on May 13 2025.</em></p><p><br /></p><p><strong><em>Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform.</em></strong><a href="https://the-ken.com/pricing/"><strong><em> Subscribe</em></strong></a><strong><em> for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.</em></strong></p><p>One channel. Every show. No more switching feeds. Follow The Ken on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/channel/the-ken/id6744577070"><strong><em>Apple Podcasts</em></strong></a><strong><em> or tune in on </em></strong><a href="https://the-ken.com/"><strong><em>The Ken app</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p>