APP-ED

DailyPost 1040 

APP-ED

Zapped we would get when something happened mysteriously and one was not able to explain it. The world en masse has got into that phase of late, by the process called APP-ED. This is the process by which Apps have taken over us literally. No technological process or a genre of technical products have shaken the world in the manner of Apps. The world today is ruled by it. This is the biggest disruption of our times. From what all happened on a PC, to moving on to Laptop to Tab to Smart phone seems to be a glacial age journey given the way Apps have taken over us in the last few years.

Apps remain the most unregulated product in the history of capitalism and in the age of enforcement where everything is monitored and controlled for the purpose of orderly behaviour. The most impact making products of our times, being used in variety of ways the world over, 24/7 endlessly, has no controls. Whether it is by design or by default is very difficult to fathom out. The App Store started on 10th July 2008 and Google Play on 22nd October 2008. These are real stores of world, dishing out products which control most of the products, services and entertainment in today’s world.

If Cyber edifice is reeking from every point, the apps have a critical role to play. They have no product declaration of any worth, what all they do when installed, its features, the data collection / usage, the need for it, the technical credentials, the disclaimers, warnings, the testing and the certifying agency, the validation thereof, the history, the milestones et al. Leave aside individual apps there are no regulations in general as well. The App Store and Google Play are not only the judge, jury and the executioner, they are their own lawmakers too.

From collecting data; torch app collecting location data not bothered about it being dark or not, the Truecaller story, the keyloggers getting installed are only the tip of the iceberg. The Truecaller story is the result of an unvalidated app. Every app has a story. The two stores have their own story of monetisation by creating very successful ecosystems. The Users, Data and Cyber Security are nobody’s concern.

CONTROL THE APPS TO REGULATE THE WORLD.

Sanjay Sahay