Privacy Invasion by App-based Apartment Security Management System/s

The RWA of the society where I reside has recently decided to modernize the apartments. In the latest bid, today we were told that we are now to adopt the “NoBrokerHood Security Management System” and get ourselves registered via the application (pictures of public notice attached).

Now, this kind of system is certainly invasive! Visitors, helpers, and guests will have to download this application (as it is highly recommended). They will then receive a passcode which will ensure their smooth and faster entry in the premises.

For the students and other bachelors in the apartment, this is a privacy issue as most (all) of them are tenants and hence, the application for them will work in conjunction with the one with the flat owner/RWA. If every time a visitor/guest has to seek permission via the app, that would certainly create a digital record.

The application also allows us to rate the maids and house help. We will also receive a notification when they enter the apartment premises which means they’ll be actively monitored. It is no surprise that the maids and househelps are generally not literate and expecting them to understand the way this app works is too much. Not to mention that few of them don’t even have smartphones!

Apart from that, the permissions required by the app are also worrisome.

I firmly believe that the privacy of an individual is paramount and cannot take precedent over convenience.

Sharing some related articles:

App Based Security System – Avoiding the BlindSpots

Home Surveillance and the Rights of Domestic Workers

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using Adda in our society. From the link you posted from theirs, I can tell that I have seen Mygate depend on a common database of visitors unlike Adda. we used mygate for few months before the new association formed and went for Adda instead. Neither of them expected your domestic help staff to carry any smartphone and that expectation is absurd unless we buy them smartphones ourselves. Regardless any and all gatekeeper solutions especially being hosted partly or wholly in control of some people could feel not ideal…nor are the software and service always working at their best, but I think we have a good mix of features in bugs with what we got :slight_smile: