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Women avoid cyber cafes after some ask them to pose before a web camera as a security measure; feel personal information can be misused

On a rainy day, excited at the prospect of chatting with her boyfriend studying overseas, a college student went to a cyber cafe at Churchgate.

The smile that had been lingering on her face vanished when the owner asked her to pose before the web camera. She left the place in a hurry.

Picture This: With women avoiding cyber cafes, owners are losing out on 50 per cent of the business.

Like her, many women now avoid going to cyber cafés in the fear that their personal details and photographs, taken as a security measure, will be misused.
 
Saroj Mangain (24), who works with a multinational company, said, "I don't think it's safe to disclose my personal details.

Now that some owners take pictures of customers, I've stopped going to cyber cafés. I don't want my photo to be misused."
 
Guncha Khare (25) feels it's alright to submit a photo identity as proof. "I don't have a problem with that. But photos can be passed on to other people or even uploaded on networking sites."

Huge losses

Most cyber cafe owners said their business had been adversely affected as a result of this move.

Ashish Saboo, president, Cyber Cafe Association, said, "Women feel vulnerable. They believe revealing personal details is an infringement of privacy."

Karamshi Gala, a partner in Sify iway cyber café at Churchgate, explained, "Our business has gone down by almost 50 per cent. Women, especially young girls, refuse to provide personal details."

Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police (crime), feels there can be a solution to the problem.

"Maybe we can have a cyber cafe only for women where there is no possibility of the data being misused. We will implement the best possible security measures to ensure that women feel safe visiting cyber cafes."

Photo Stop

The Mumbai police made it mandatory for cyber café owners to fingerprint all customers to reduce instances of crime.

Customers also have to provide a photo identity proof and personal details that are noted down in a diary.
 
Many cyber cafes have been instructed by local police stations to photograph customers a the web camera.