Cloaked, a forward-thinking privacy company, is setting a new standard for digital freedom and personal data protection. At the helm of this transformation is Arjun Bhatnagar, Co-founder and CEO of Cloaked, who has made it his mission to empower individuals with tools to regain control over their personal information while reshaping industries’ approach to data usage.
In this TechBullion interview, Arjun shares the inspiration behind Cloaked, which emerged from a personal realization about the vulnerability of data shared with big tech companies. Along with his brother and co-founder, Abhijay Bhatnagar, Arjun developed a platform that offers user-friendly, secure solutions, such as virtual identities, end-to-end encryption, and robust data removal tools. Cloaked’s vision is rooted in creating a privacy-first future where individuals, not corporations, dictate how their data is shared and used.
Arjun also discusses the challenges posed by AI, the proliferation of data brokers, and the pressing need for stronger privacy legislation. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration among businesses, innovators, and policymakers to foster a secure and transparent digital ecosystem. Cloaked aims to restore public trust, challenge the status quo, and promote privacy as a fundamental right through its innovative platform.
Looking ahead, Cloaked envisions transforming how society interacts with personal data by equipping users with the tools to take back control and advocating for systemic change in privacy practices. This interview offers insights into how Cloaked is leading the charge to redefine digital freedom in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
Please tell us more about yourself.
I’m Arjun Bhatnagar, Co-founder and CEO of Cloaked, a consumer-first privacy company. We’ve developed a secure, all-in-one privacy platform to give individuals control over their personal information – past, present and future – while helping reshape how industries access, use and think about data. As a developer and privacy advocate, my team and I are focused on using technology to uphold everyone’s fundamental right to privacy.
Arjun Bhatnagar, Co-founder and CEO of Cloaked
Cloaked represents a bold stance against the traditional big data-driven status quo. Can you share the origin story of Cloaked and what inspired you to create a platform focused on individual privacy and digital identity empowerment?
When we give away our data, we give away control of our digital identity and our privacy. I learned this firsthand in 2020 when, in an effort to get better about my habits, I created an AI data box to house all of my data in one place. I connected my financial details with my healthcare, messaging data and more. The tool quickly started telling me when to exercise more or when to spend less. And then one day while at lunch, it had a conversation with my friend – without me knowing. I knew at that moment that I couldn’t trust big tech with my data and needed to do something about it. I brought my brother and co-founder, Abhijay Bhatnagar, onboard and Cloaked was born.
Cloaked offers a unique and comprehensive solution for users to reclaim control over their data. What differentiates your platform from other privacy-focused tools in the market, and how does it align with your vision of a privacy-first future?
Beyond developing the most secure platform that offers end-to-end encryption, zero knowledge architecture and individual user databases, we focus on meeting individuals where they are. We create tools and features that make it easy to build privacy into how you already live your life and interact with technology. Generate a virtual phone number or email in real time, create secure passwords in an instant or let us handle your data removal from data broker sites. By making it easy and accessible, we believe adoption will be faster and help people create new privacy habits more easily.
The rise of AI has brought both incredible advancements and heightened risks to personal data. How do you view the intersection of AI, data privacy, and digital identity, and what role does Cloaked play in addressing these challenges?
While there are many benefits to AI, its training methods currently exploit our privacy with a lack of transparency and consent. Without privacy best practices built into AI innovation, negative actions from bad actors will continue to outpace privacy protections. We’ll see more indistinguishable, sophisticated scams and more personal data in data brokers’ hands being sold to the highest bidder.
As privacy advocates, Cloaked works to bring awareness to consumers and corporations about the importance of protecting personal information. We meet with policymakers to help educate and inform more stringent regulations. And we provide all-encompassing and intuitive technology that helps protect personal data in one place – so we all have the opportunity to be in control of what and how we share. Our role is to be the system that puts you in control of how AI and businesses interface, connect, and personalize to you on your data.
Data breaches and the pervasive influence of data brokers have eroded public trust in the digital ecosystem. How does Cloaked aim to restore trust and shift the power dynamic back to individual users?
It is true that breaches are only becoming more frequent. This year alone there have been more than one billion data points stolen. And AI is making it even easier for data brokers to scrape vast amounts of public and private data to create in-depth consumer profiles. But when individuals start to take control of their data, using Cloaked tools like virtual identities, data removal and password managers to remove or mask details, they start to “poison” the data. Through anonymization, it becomes harder (if not impossible) to connect data points to an individual profile, breaking connections and making information stale quickly. This starts to put individuals back in control of their data – and their digital identity – determining on their own terms what they share with whom and when.
What trends or challenges do you foresee in maintaining a secure and private online presence? How should organizations and individuals prepare for these changes?
Through Cloaked proprietary research, we know that 92% of people believe that privacy is important today with more and more individuals taking steps to protect their information. But without more stringent legislation in place to ensure new innovation and organizations implement privacy best practices, we’ll continue to find our personal data in the public domain.
This is why it is critical that we help people start to take action on their own and demand change in mass. We must rethink what we share and where we share it – and ask the businesses that we trust with our information to do the same.
For individuals, it can be as simple as saying no to sharing an email at checkout or sharing birth announcements on social media. Or utilizing a range of tools that allow you to mask your details while receiving the communications and benefits you seek. This includes using virtual emails, turning on privacy settings, refusing cookies or employing VPNs, and more.
At the same time, business leaders need to assess what information is really needed to run a company and ask for only necessary details from customers. We need to create and commit to digestible privacy policies that simply explain why data is collected and how it is used. And we need to ensure the vendors we work with share in privacy best practices and don’t sell personal information to data brokers.
To foster a truly privacy-first future, collaboration is key. What steps can businesses, innovators, and policymakers take to collectively build a digital environment that prioritizes individual privacy and freedom?
It’s important that we acknowledge the added value investment in privacy brings to business and society at large. By gathering less data and putting security protocols in place to protect the data that is collected, organizations can minimize the risks associated with breaches and maximize building trust and loyalty with customers – not to mention a sizable return on investment.
As innovators, we need to work closely with businesses, governments and policymakers to ensure a deeper understanding of the risks associated with a lack of protective measures. We need to discuss and help co-create legislation and best practices that look out for consumers’ best interests – now and in the future – as technology continues to evolve.
By working together, we can increase awareness, create a deeper understanding of privacy’s impact, influence proactive action, stymie breaches and improve overall safety for the masses. We can innovate and govern with a privacy-first approach that allows us to put consumers’ best interests at the center of what we do, while also building better technologies and business outcomes.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes and goals for Cloaked’s impact over the next five years? How do you see your platform influencing broader societal and industry-wide transformations in privacy practices?
Right now, the power rests squarely with data brokers and large corporations, who collect, use, and sell your information with little transparency or accountability. Our mission now – and always – is to flip that dynamic on its head.
We believe individuals should have the ultimate say in how their personal information is used. This is why we’re equipping users with the tools to reclaim control—empowering them to decide what data they share, when they share it, and with whom.
In doing so, we want to transform the way innovators, businesses, big tech and government think about and use the data at their fingertips so that we can move forward with a new, consumer-centric approach to personal information that keeps individuals safe and respects their fundamental right to privacy.
