Can loan apps sell my contacts to third parties?

Yes, and this is one of their most profitable and harmful practices. The World Bank explicitly warns that "lenders contact a delinquent borrower's contacts on their mobile phone to shame them into repaying" .

How Contact Data Is Used:

• Harassment campaigns: Calls and messages demanding repayment from friends, family, and employers
• Public shaming: Posting loan defaults on borrower's social media with tagged contacts
• Data enrichment: Selling contact lists to other lenders or marketing firms
• Social graph analysis: Building your network to assess "social credit"

Example: The Philippines' National Privacy Commission has specifically barred mobile lending apps from accessing contact lists except for KYC purposes, recognizing that "unfair collection practices such as harassment and shaming" rely on this data .

How to Check if Your Contacts Were Stolen: Ask friends if they received calls or messages about you. If they did, your contacts were exfiltrated.