New Delhi, May 19 -- In today's digital age, getting a loan is as easy as downloading an app. A few taps, a couple of permissions, and voila - money lands in your account in minutes. But behind the convenience lies a hidden cost that millions of borrowers are unknowingly paying - their privacy.

Most loan applications ask for more than your basic information, specifically, loans that are unregulated or loosely regulated. Ask for full access to location, contacts, messages, call history, pictures, and your microphone. Borrowers are usually rash or desperate and give this access without reading the fine print.

A Rs.5,000 loan could straight up delete your entire online existence.

In some instances, debt recovery agencies contacted borrowe...