Cloaked is a consumer-first privacy company that offers a range of privacy features to help everyday people take control of their personal information. The company enables individuals to generate virtual identities to protect their personal privacy and so much more. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cloaked co-founder and CEO Arjun Bhatnagar to learn more about the company.
Arjun Bhatnagar’s Background
What is Arjun Bhatnagar’s background? Bhatnagar said:
“I am the Co-founder and CEO of Cloaked — a consumer-first privacy company. As a privacy advocate committed to human-centric innovation, my team and I are helping to reshape how industries access, use, and think about data by helping consumers take control of what and how they share through the Cloaked platform.”
“Before Cloake,d I started my first company – Hey! HeadsUp – with my brother Abhijay Bhatnagar, which we sold in 2016. I’ve also taught programming at MIT, been a partner at a venture capital firm, and founded a non-profit for underserved communities. I’ve been breaking and building things since I was 10 and seek out opportunities to help others create with a privacy-first approach to technology.”
Formation Of Cloaked
How did the idea for the company come together? Bhatnagar shared:
“In 2020, I was looking for a way to improve my day-to-day life and leaned into artificial intelligence (AI) for the fix. I built a crude AI system that aggregated my Fitbit data and healthcare records with my financial information, email, and more. My “databox” started to tell me when to exercise, when to drink less, and when to slow down on spending. I started to feel better. I also started to grasp how powerful having my data in one place could be when unbeknownst to me, the app had a conversation with my then girlfriend.”
“It was a huge revelation, and I knew I couldn’t trust big tech with this power. That day, I started to develop Cloaked. The goal was and continues to be to put individuals in control of their personal information with a secure, end-to-end encrypted, zero-knowledge tool that allows individuals to decide what and how they share information today.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory of Cloaked so far? Bhatnagar reflected:
“There have already been a number of memorable moments – from the day I first mentioned the idea for Cloaked to my co-founder (and brother), and he was all in on the idea of securing our Series A funding. But perhaps most exciting was the day we officially launched the Cloaked platform. In October 2023, we had more than 50,000 people on our waiting list. We were number one on Product Hunt and had a bunch of positive buzz. It was an incredible feeling to see our hard work come to life with such positive feedback.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Bhatnagar explained:
“We are a consumer-first privacy company providing a complete privacy platform to individuals set on protecting their personal information from spammers and scammers. Our features include:
— Real-time, unlimited phone number and email creation with two-way routing so identities are never revealed.
— Personalization features that allow individuals to turn identities on or off, elect to auto-forward communication to existing email or phone numbers and more.
— A personal, encrypted database and end-to-end encryption across the platform, including zero-knowledge architecture, to ensure maximum security for Cloaked users.
— A built-in password manager, making it seamless to save and access information across web and mobile devices.
— Identity Theft Protection insurance, so that individuals have access to $1 million in coverage should their identity be compromised in any way.
— Data Removal utilizes advanced, industry-leading technology that scans for and removes users’ personal information, including addresses, phone numbers and more, from public websites and data broker databases.”
Evolution Of Cloaked’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Bhatnagar noted:
“The vision has always been for Cloaked to become the one-stop shop for all things privacy. We started by providing unlimited identities, including phone numbers, emails, and passwords that people can spin up in real-time while at a store or opening an account online. Since our launch, we’ve added new offerings like Identity Theft Protection insurance and Cloaked Data Removal. Plus, we’ve doubled down on our commitment to security. Cloaked is end-to-encrypted with zero knowledge architecture and user-specific databases. We launched with ISO27001 and ISO27701 certifications and have continued to expand our security with SOC 2 Type I and SOC 2 Type II certifications.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Bhatnagar pointed out:
“We’re working on a number of new innovations to bring a holistic privacy platform to life. This includes Cloaked Pay, which offers unlimited and secure virtual credit card numbers, plus family sharing and AI defense, which will help to ensure personal identities are protected from artificial intelligence. Our innovation roadmap is robust and we’re developing at speed to help our users take control of their data and protect their privacy on as many fronts as possible, as quickly as possible.”
“As we’re building a first-of-its-kind platform, we also believe it is extremely important to educate consumers about the dangers of data accessibility today and play an active role in advocating for change. This means we’re creating tools like our Cloaked Hotline that help individuals understand how readily accessible their data is to data brokers or malicious actors. With one phone call, people can learn what personal information is available about them and their families, including social security numbers, addresses, and more.”
“We’re also sharing information to make the process of protecting data less overwhelming, regularly sharing tips on our site and with media outlets to provide as much information as possible. Perhaps most importantly, we’re working with policymakers in DC to help create legislation that will be effective in protecting our privacy now and into the future as new technologies come to market.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Bhatnagar about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“There are so many success stories, but some of my favorites are when subscribers use Cloaked for really unique moments. One person tapped Cloaked to plan her entire wedding. By using unique identifiers for wedding vendors, she was able to keep everything organized and project managed in an extremely efficient, secure way.”
Funding
When asking Bhatnagar about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“Cloaked has secured $34 million in funding to date, backed by the likes of Lux Capital, Human Capital, General Catalyst, Peter Thiel, Index Ventures, Jeff Weiner from Next Play Ventures, All Turtles, Khosla Ventures, Michael Ovitz, Marquee Ventures, and The Chainsmokers’ Mantis Fund.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Bhatnagar assessed:
“We believe that EVERYONE deserves the right to privacy and work diligently to make that a reality. Today there are over 1.5 billion people who pay for privacy-related products.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Bhatnagar affirmed:
“Cloaked is the only privacy platform providing such a range of services with such strict security protocols. Our team is an amazing mix of developers, cybersecurity specialists, and hackers — who are committed to a privacy-first future that puts individuals (not big tech) in control of their data.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Bhatnagar concluded:
“We’re in the midst of a digital identity crisis. Everyone is gathering up our personal data for social, financial and political reasons and using it to influence how we perceive ourselves and the actions we take. It is up to all of us to help reimagine what our identities look like online and protect our privacy by taking steps that help put us back in control of our data. This means making sure our data is indecipherable and that organizations collecting information are focused on the ‘behavior’ and not ‘who’ (specific personal details) to understand consumers. Through decentralized data and anonymization, we believe a future that upholds our fundamental right to privacy can be achieved.”
