India: Housing security apps facilitate hyper-surveillance of domestic workers
"The apps were designed for home security. They’re being used to watch and harass domestic workers", 10 August 2023
...Apps like MyGate and its competitors ApnaComplex and NoBrokerHood have gained popularity across urban India in recent years. These apps automate surveillance in housing societies — notifying and seeking permission from residents every time a guest, a delivery person, or a domestic worker enters or leaves the complex. They also facilitate utility payments, communication between residents, and the booking of slots for shared amenities.
But the technology built by these companies is inherently problematic as the apps allow the monitoring of domestic workers, often without their consent or knowledge, lawyers and researchers told Rest of World. The apps further an existing form of discrimination that plays out in urban Indian apartment complexes, according to digital activist and researcher Srinivas Kodali...
...MyGate and NoBrokerHood are currently being used in over 40,000 urban residential complexes in India, according to their websites. The apps are backed by marquee global investors: NoBrokerHood’s parent company, NoBroker, has raised over $200 million in funding, including $5 million from a Google fund, and MyGate has raised over $50 million from the likes of Tiger Global and Tencent.
Shajai Jacob, managing director and country head of ApnaComplex, told Rest of World the app was simply a medium to transfer information between residents and domestic workers. “I don’t see how this information is detrimental for anybody,” said Abhishek Kumar, co-founder and COO of MyGate. NoBroker refused to comment...
...MyGate offers a rating system akin to Uber, where residents can rank domestic workers across parameters such as attitude, punctuality, and quality of service. But unlike Uber’s drivers, workers on MyGate cannot see their ratings nor rate the employers. Rest of World found a similar rating system on ApnaComplex in Gurugram. Jacob said it was an “initial feature” that the app had removed, but then “brought [it] back in the new UI because of the fact that there was demand.”..