Published on: November 13, 2024
SafetyDetectives recently interviewed Arjun Bhatnagar, the Co-founder and CEO of Cloaked. He leads a pioneering journey into consumer privacy, empowering individuals to reclaim control over their personal data. Inspired by his own experiences with data aggregation and a realization of the power (and risks) tied to personal information, Arjun co-founded Cloaked with his brother, Abhijay. The platform allows users to secure their online identities through a holistic approach to privacy, integrating features like virtual identities, data removal, and advanced protections that address the realities of modern digital life.
Driven by a mission to make privacy accessible and adaptable to everyday use, Cloaked tackles the challenges of digital privacy head-on, aiming to foster safer, more private online interactions. With the rise of data breaches and a growing understanding of the risks associated with data exposure, Cloaked’s solutions resonate with a broad audience eager to take back control of their information. Arjun’s vision is clear: empower individuals to navigate the digital world securely and confidently.
Can you introduce yourself and talk about what inspired you to co-found Cloaked
Hi, my name is Arjun Bhatnagar. I’m the Co-founder and CEO of consumer privacy company Cloaked. We’re helping individuals take control of their data with our all-in-one, secure platform.
On the heels of covid, I was experimenting with how to make my day-to-day life a bit better. I created an AI experiment that integrated all of my data into one place – health, shopping, banking and more. It told me when to eat less, when to exercise more and other pertinent details. It also had a conversation with my then-girlfriend without my knowledge. In that moment, I realized how powerful our data is when it is in one place and that I needed to do something about it – because I didn’t trust Big Tech with it.
I ran it by my brother and Co-founder Abhijay who agreed that I was on to something. And that day Cloaked was born.
Cloaked offers unique privacy solutions, such as creating virtual identities and managing personal data. How does the company’s mission align with the increasing demand for user-controlled privacy?
At Cloaked, we believe wholeheartedly that privacy is a human right that must be upheld. Based on industry insights and our own research, we know that privacy is important to a majority of people today. In fact, more than 90% of Americans think it is important. But many people still don’t understand how easy it is to have your data compromised.
A phone number can unlock access to social security numbers, addresses, financial data and more, including family details. And if this gets into the wrong hands, plenty of damage can be done. Just this year, we’ve seen more than 1 billion records leaked due to breaches at some of the biggest companies in the world.
So we not only work to provide tools that make it easy to protect personal data – past, present and future — but also help educate consumers and advocate for building new habits around what and how we share. We very specifically design features to fit into how we already use technology to make it easier to take the steps necessary to protect our privacy.
By empowering individuals to rethink how they share, we plan to also change how industries access, use and think about data.
Cloaked provides users with features like identity theft insurance, AI defense, and data removal from brokers. What sets these services apart from other privacy tools in the market?
It is important to us at Cloaked that we’re taking a holistic approach to privacy. We want individuals to come to Cloaked and know that we will provide features to support their privacy needs in every aspect of their lives.
Technology is changing at record speed. So many individuals are just starting to fully comprehend the challenges we face having created a culture of sharing over the last three decades – from doxxing and phishing scams to data brokers and breaches. So we’re working hard to not only make it easy to integrate privacy tools and best practices into everyone’s daily lives, but also provide support to take control of the data that is already out in the world through Data Removal or Identity Theft Protection insurance.
With the constant threat of data breaches, how does Cloaked ensure its users remain secure, and what processes are in place to notify and assist them in the event of a breach?
Security is sacred at Cloaked because you can’t have the comfort of privacy without the strictest security protocols in place. That’s why Cloaked is a zero-knowledge platform that is end-to-end encrypted – which means only users can access their personal data. Every user has its own database, distributing data and strengthening security measures.
Cloaked is also ISO 27001 (security) and ISO 27701 (privacy) certified and SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 audit compliant, plus an active member of IAPP – the leading association for the privacy industry.
Also, Cloaked Data Removal acts as a great resource for cleaning up the data that is out there, helping individuals ensure their past sharing habits don’t get in the way of the privacy-centric approach they’re taking today by using virtual identities, password management and Identity Theft Protection insurance.
To help users stay informed and vigilant, Cloaked also provides continuous updates through its blog, newsletter, and resources like haveibeenbreached.com, which track the latest news on data leaks and breaches and offer timely guidance on best practices for data security.
As new technologies like AI continue to evolve, what strategies does Cloaked employ to stay ahead in protecting users’ identities and data?
As artificial intelligence is increasingly used to enable elaborate scams—such as impersonation attacks, social engineering, and deepfake fraud—Cloaked ensures that personal information is not just protected but actively cloaked from would-be scammers.
At the core of Cloaked’s defense strategy is the virtual identity system, which creates unique, secure identities (like emails, phone numbers, and payment details) for every interaction, rendering users’ real information inaccessible to scammers and data brokers. By using unique contact details for every service or interaction, Cloaked helps users avoid many AI-driven scams that rely on piecing together personal data from multiple sources. This strategy is highly effective against impersonation and phishing scams that leverage AI to simulate realistic identities or social cues to gain trust.
For users just beginning to explore personal privacy tools, what advice would you give on using Cloaked effectively and adopting good privacy practices?
Start by minimizing what you share with people. Full stop. We’ve been socialized for the last 30 years to share anything with just about anyone. We need to focus on building new habits and integrating new tools into our everyday lives to course correct our past sharing and safeguard our privacy for the future.
We recommend that you stop giving permissions to apps to track your contact info, location and health details. Make sure to turn on privacy settings, say no to cookies and don’t post your favorite child’s photo on Instagram – on their birthday! Think twice about whether it is really necessary to share your phone number with the host at the restaurant or the salesperson at your new, favorite store the next time they ask.
Then tap tools that can help you do this with speed, such as Cloaked’s Data Removal service that finds your public information and automatically deletes it for you or Cloaked’s virtual aliases and password management suite that allow you to anonymize your personal information wherever you are, as often as you need. In addition, consider using secure browsers, VPNs and tracker blockers that can help prevent data tracking.
By anonymizing personal information through the tips and tools above, we can start to share less relevant data points and poison the data that brokers have on us. This works by breaking the links and making our data indecipherable when aggregated, helping to improve our privacy and ultimately our security.