Bringing the Hammer Down on Those Unruly Tech Lenders

Human beings have proven themselves to be good at a myriad of different things, and yet there is little we do better than growing on a consistent basis. This progressive approach, on our part, has got the world to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology appearing as a major member of the group. The reason why technology enjoys such an esteemed stature among people is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which ushered us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look up close for a second, it will become clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component was, in fact, what gave the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and consequentially, kickstarted a tech revolution. Of course, this revolution then went on to scale up the human experience through some outright unique avenues, but even after achieving such a monumental feat, technology will somehow continue to deliver the goods. The same has grown to become a lot more evident in recent times, except assuming Google’s latest move ends up with the desired impact, it will put that trend on a completely new trajectory moving forward.

Google has officially confirmed its decision to prohibit loan apps from accessing users’ personal information, with the goal being a meaningful reduction in predatory behavior showcased by some lenders. Under the updated rule, the search engine giant will limit these applications’ exposure to sensitive personal details, such as photos, videos, contacts, call logs and more. To understand the significance of such a move, we must dig into a few recent instances that saw people, who had acquired credit from the stated platforms, getting harassed by debt collectors. This included using the borrower’s contact list to inform family and friends about their outstanding debts. Hold on, it gets worse. In certain cases, we even saw agents employing manipulated images to further intimidate and pressurize the borrower, thus forcing them to take severe actions like committing suicide.

“Apps that provide personal loans, or have the primary purpose of facilitating access to personal loans (i.e., lead generators or facilitators), are prohibited from accessing sensitive data, such as photos and contacts,” Google said in statement that confirmed its decision.

Now, once law enforcement agencies and Central Banks, made Google aware of the issue, the company’s initial response was to block thousands of personal loan apps from the Play Store. Next up, it introduced a requirement of carrying out specific licensing documentation for apps so to validate their feasibility in offering credit. Interestingly, Google would complement the said measure by releasing another rule, which instructed nonbanking financial companies in the country to only have a single digital lending app on the Play Store.

“Developers who attempt to publish more than one DLA per NBFC risk the termination of their developer account and any other associated accounts,” the company had said at that time.

Despite all the preventive measures, though, the truth is Google has long been criticized for not doing enough to take on these debtors turned harassers. Hence, it will be interesting whether the tech behemoth is able to shake off that image with this new piece of initiative.