Muhammad Umair2 days ago

WEBSCAM

Are Loan Apps Selling Our Phone Numbers? The Hidden Cost of Digital Lending in Pakistan

I have been using an Android phone for almost eight years, and during this entire time, I have rarely received spam calls perhaps only two or three times, and even those seemed completely coincidental. But everything changed last month. I urgently needed money to pay my hostel rent. Like many other students facing financial difficulties, I turned to online loan apps and applied for loans through several different platforms. Since then, my experience has been completely different. I now receive 30 to 40 spam calls every day. Some days, it feels as though my phone number has suddenly become available to everyone. This raises an important question: How did my phone number suddenly reach so many people? I have a strong suspicion that the increase in spam calls may be connected to the loan apps where I submitted my personal information. I decided to look at the terms and conditions of two or three of these apps. To my surprise, I found clauses stating that users' information and phone numbers may be used for marketing or shared for certain purposes. The problem is that most people do not actually read lengthy terms and conditions. We simply click "Agree" because we need the service urgently. In many cases, people may not even fully understand what they are agreeing to. Some of these loan apps have also been accused of questionable practices, yet people continue to use them because they have no other option. What concerns me most is the possibility that our personal information including our phone numbers could be shared with marketing companies or, even worse, reach fraudulent individuals who then bombard us with calls. The consequences can be serious. Many students and financially vulnerable people turn to digital lending apps because they desperately need money for education, rent, medical expenses, or daily necessities. Instead of receiving support, some borrowers reportedly face aggressive collection practices, harassment, and immense mental pressure. This raises another important question: Who is protecting the ordinary person? If a person legally downloads an app, provides their phone number, and agrees to its terms and conditions, does that mean they have also agreed to receive dozens of unwanted calls every day? If personal data is being shared with third parties, are users clearly informed about who receives their information and why? These questions deserve serious answers. I am not claiming that every loan app is selling users' data or that every spam call I receive is directly connected to the apps I used. But the timing of this sudden increase in calls is concerning, and it deserves investigation. The government and regulatory authorities must take stronger action to protect people's personal data. There should be greater transparency about how financial apps collect, store, and share users' information. If companies are allowed to use personal data for marketing, users should be clearly informed and given a genuine choice—not simply presented with complicated terms and conditions that most people never read. As an individual, I can block numbers one by one. But I cannot block 30 or 40 new numbers every day. This is not just my problem. It could be happening to thousands of other Pakistanis who use digital lending and financial apps. The government and regulators must investigate how personal data is being handled by digital lending platforms and take action against anyone misusing or illegally sharing people's information. Because when a person is already struggling financially, the last thing they need is to lose their privacy as well.