Comments
A majority of Indian adults share intimate details through digital devices including personal content such as suggestive texts, naked photos and suggestive videos. These can potentially lead to cyber-stalking and the exposure of private content leaking online, according to a study by security technology firm McAfee.
The survey - Love, Relationships & Technology – in its second year, examined how Indian consumers are sharing and storing intimate data on their mobile devices, especially with current or former significant others. A total of 1,008 candidates were interviewed in India among adults aged between 18 and 54.
About 90 per cent of women in the age group of 18-24 were found to have received personal or intimate text messages, e-mails or photos on their mobile devices, it said.
While sharing content, more than half of the polled Indians send sexually explicit text messages or sexts (79%) and personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos (70 per cent) to their friends.
One third of the Indian respondents (68 per cent), have checked their partner’s mobiles to check out messages and photos, while 44 per cent of people admitted to cyber stalking or following other sex on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
“The indiscriminate usage of mobile phones to share photos and videos reiterate the realities of digital privacy-or lack thereof," said Rupa Roy, Marketing Head (India and SAARC) at McAfee.
“Ultimately, users are increasing the risks of these photos becoming public and possibly jeopardising their identity and reputation. It is critical therefore to take proactive measures to make sure their personal data is safe and secure,” she added.
Indian women outrank Indian men in sending personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos (59 per cent) and filming sexual video content.
Sharing content on social media - posting photos (72 per cent), online messages (62 per cent), posting videos (35 per cent) – to celebrate Valentine’s day is the new norm, it added.
Sharing their mobile phone content and email account details is a well-accepted trend among polled Indians, with more than 66 per cent of them share their mobile content and 72 per cent share e-mail account details with their partners.
About half the polled Indians (48 per cent) also share bank account details with their partners.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.