'Secret lovers protected, rebels not': Sridhar Vembu signals Arratai edge with quiet dig at Apple

Zoho Corp co-founder Sridhar Vembu outlined the company’s nuanced stance on privacy in a detailed post, drawing a sharp line between personal data protection, corporate confidentiality, and government compliance while confirming end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is “coming soon” to its messaging app, Arratai.

Addressing three distinct privacy scenarios—“the secret lover,” “the targeted ad,” and “the secret rebel”—Vembu said Zoho’s technology is designed to shield users’ private communications and enterprise data from both internal misuse and external data-mining systems.

“The secret lover case also applies to org trade secrets and confidential data but ‘secret lover’ is more catchy,” Vembu wrote. He emphasized that Zoho’s tech stack is built to ensure privacy in such cases, reaffirming the company’s long-held refusal to mine user data for advertising.

In what he called the second case, Vembu condemned ad-driven models that exploit user data for commercial gain. “By taking a vow to not use your data to try to sell you stuff, we protect you from that sense of distaste or violation,” he said, noting that the policy also safeguards corporate trade secrets from leaking into ad-tech pipelines.

On the politically sensitive “secret rebel” scenario, Vembu issued a blunt reality check. “Any company operating in a jurisdiction promising to protect a secret rebel against their own government is making a false promise,” he said, adding that “sovereign power always prevails over mere companies.” Zoho, he said, must comply with the laws of every nation it operates in, just like Apple in China or Google in India.

Despite these legal limits, Vembu noted that “secret rebels can communicate like secret lovers do,” hinting at Zoho’s technical safeguards without promising legal immunity.

In a follow-up on X, Vembu confirmed that end-to-end encryption for Arratai, Zoho’s messaging app, is “coming soon”—a move likely to address user concerns, especially among those switching from more established platforms.