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DAVID FREER, Vice President, Consumer APAC at Intel Security gives his thoughts on preventing digital ‘mines’ from spoiling the bliss.

Finding the person you look forward to spending the rest of your life with is an incredible experience. As couples share a bond that will only go deeper in time, they’re bound to also share personal and intimate information with each other. Digital devices have become such integral part of our lives, and these shared intimate moments may accidentally end up in front of public eyes – or even worse, in the hands of someone with malicious intent.

So before we change our online profile status to ‘Married’, maybe we should take a step back and consider a number of things to safely navigate through our romance online. Intel Security did a survey this year to look at how couples from around the world, including in Singapore, communicate digitally.

Here are some interesting results:

• More than half of Singapore respondents know their significant other’s Facebook password the most out of any social network or portal. This is a similar trend in the U.S (55%), Mexico (55%) and Brazil (76%).
• In Singapore, this is followed by passwords for mobile devices (47%) and personal email or computer accounts (45%).
• One in four respondents claim to know their significant other’s bank or credit card portal/app password.
• More males than females have something to hide on their phones: 25% of males indicated that if their partners were to get access to their mobile devices, they will find flirtatious messages – versus only 14% of females who indicated the same.

With trust being the basic foundation of a relationship, sharing or not sharing of information and passwords can be good measure of how much trust exists between a couple. Even if this may seem harmless, it actually increases the chance of exposing our loved ones to real risks.

More than half of the individuals surveyed indicated that they almost never delete intimate photos and videos after sharing them. Yet, at the same time, more than three out of four Singaporeans fear that their personal information or intimate data could be leaked or shared without their permission.

While every relationship is different, and while couples have their own ideas of what the word ‘trust’ entails, it would be wise to follow some of these simple steps to keep your personal data, and data of those you love, safe.

Think before sharing

Don’t share passwords with anyone, including significant others and family members. If you need to share it, create a unique code just for that account, and change it immediately if you suspect it has been compromised. Share a date with your beloved, and not your data.

Put a PIN on it

If you value the contents on your mobile device, be sure to include a PIN or passcode so that if it becomes lost or stolen, people will not be able to access your information and publish it online.

Pick a sassy password

Use strong passwords that won’t be easily determined or replace some of your passwords with a facial recognition service. Passwords such as ‘Password’, ‘I Love You’, birthdays and numbers in a row are definitely not a good idea.

Always delete

If you send personal or intimate messages, make sure to delete the content from your device as soon as possible. It can save you from years of damage control for your reputation’s sake later on. Better yet, save the personal for in person.

Remember that the Internet is forever

Once you share, post or Tweet something, your private information is often available to the public, and goes beyond your control.

As you and your significant other look forward to the exciting road ahead as a married couple, it might be a good idea to discuss and come to a mutual agreement on how much personal information and online activities regarding your relationship to share with the World Wide Web. More importantly, take some time to develop good online habits that not only protect the both of you – but can also go a long way once you have a family to safeguard.

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