Online dating sounds like it’s the next frontier in dating. Sure, it’s leveraging technology to offer users a convenient path to find their next love, but it can still have inherent issues. Even once a date or relationship ends, there might be some unintended risks. Human error, for sure, but bolstered by the power of technology.
Here’s how the story goes:
In October 2024, according to a LinkedIn post, a young woman from Bengaluru had used the dating app Bumble to meet a man, but the relationship seemed to have ended after a brief stint. It should have been a clean break, but, unfortunately, it didn’t go that way. The woman was said to have become the victim of digital stalking by an ex-partner. The man was said to be working at a major food delivery platform in India, where it’s said he could access her private information and track her every move.
The man was said to have flagged her account in the system and been able to monitor her delivery orders in real time. Soon after, it was said that he began to send her creepy and unnerving messages, questioning her whereabouts based on her delivery locations and questioning the kinds of food she ordered. That’s the sign of a stable person. Messages included asking her whether she ordered chocolate, because she was on her period or asking why she ordered from a new location at 2 am. These could be chilling reminders that one could be monitored or tracked just from what we order. It’s straight out of a thriller book, but it’s real-life terror for someone like this Bengaluru woman.
Stalker issues aside, one has to think about how this was done, because this would mean misuse of professional access by an employee of a startup that has a lot of user data. Even if a venture has the highest levels of security or privacy, could even the most stringent policies be breached by insider access? Or could this be a serious lapse in oversight? Can companies gauge the trustworthiness of the employees they entrust with pools of consumer data?
Some are not sure whether the LinkedIn post is true, opining that tech companies enforce strict access levels, so unauthorized access might trigger immediate consequences. Others think it’s possible for people with higher levels of access to view user data and misuse it, as working on a data team might open the door to access to sensitive information. Because when we interact with e-commerce platforms or food delivery platforms, we’re inputting the items we interact with, our location, our financial information and more. So, if that data falls into the wrong hands of a malicious actor, imagine the ways it could be weaponized.
Whenever there are infamous incidents of data breaches, they seem to lead to maelstroms, where there might be public apologies by corporates, monetary settlements and even regulatory fines. So, can there be proactive moves to deal with this? The DPDP Act 2023 might have to look closer at this in terms of cyber laws having to catch up with the realities of digital abuse.
Are there alerts or audits to flag any unusual access patterns? In theory, a company can promise those safeguards. But, it may be all about how it’s enforced. Is data access provided based on job function? For instance, maybe someone from customer service may not need to have access to an address, but may need their order history or phone number.
So, what do you think? Does this change how you interact with online platforms at all, whether or not the incident took place?
