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Follow UsBANGALORE, INDIA: McAfee, the leading global security technology company released India specific findings from their 2014 Love, Relationships & Technology survey. For a second year in a row, the company examined how Indian consumers are sharing and storing intimate data on their mobile devices, especially with current or former significant others. The study highlights how sharing personal content such as suggestive texts, naked photos, suggestive video and passcodes on these devices can potentially lead to cyber-stalking and the exposure of private content leaking online. Some of the interesting India data points include-
· 90 per cent of women in the age group of 18-24 were found to have received personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos on their mobile device out of the 67 per cent polled respondents
· While sharing content, more than half of the polled Indians send sexts or sexually explicit text messages (79 per cent ) or 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 their messages and photos
· 44 per cent of people admitted to cyber stalking or following their significant other's ex on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
(Annexure below has complete India specific findings)
"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, McAfee. "Ultimately, users are increasing the risks of these photos becoming public and possibly jeopardizing their identity and reputation. It is critical therefore to take proactive measures to make sure their personal data is safe and secure." she added.
McAfee advises consumers not to share passwords or codes for mobile devices with others to help keep their content secure. Mobile users should avoid using weak passwords that can be easily determined such as birthdays, numbers in a row or repeat numbers for their devices. Rather, six-digit passcodes and words translated into numbers using your mobile keypad are stronger and should be utilized. Users can protect all of their data through security solutions such as McAfee® Mobile Security, available for both iOS and Android, which comes with many features to help keep your private information private-even in the event your device is lost or stolen.
Additional India findings from the survey include:
Indians are not cautious when it comes to sharing information
· 90 per cent of women in the age group of 18-24 were found to have received personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos on their mobile device out of the 67 per cent polled respondents
· Indian women outrank Indian men in
o sending personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos (59 per cent ) and
o Filming sexual video content (30 per cent )
· While sharing content, more than half of the polled Indians send sexts or sexually explicit text messages (79 per cent ) or personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos (70 per cent ) to their friends
· 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
Type of information shared with partners
· Sharing their mobile phone content and email account details is a well-accepted trend amongst polled Indian audiences
o More than 66 per cent of them share their mobile content and 72 per cent share email account details with their partners.
o Around half of the polled Indians (48 per cent ) also share bank account details with their partners. In a similar survey done by McAfee in 2013 on the same topic, it was found that 63 per cent of the polled Indians shared bank account details with partners online/phone.
· Indian respondents are privy to highly personal details of their partners
o 70 per cent know their partner's bank account details
o 72 per cent know their partner's Facebook details
o 82 per cent know their partner's email account details
· Polled Indian respondents also trust their partners; not to share the content of their sexually explicit text messages, emails or photos. Only 5 per cent -6 per cent are mistrustful of their partners.
· Conversely, half of surveyed Indians (50 per cent ) shared their passwords with an ex, but were cautious enough to change the password when they break-up (89 per cent )
Spying on partners
· One third of the Indian respondents (68 per cent ), have checked their partner's mobiles to check out their messages and photos
· Out of 96 per cent of surveyed Indian who are on Facebook, 31 per cent check their partner's activities by logging into their partner's profile.
· 43 per cent of Indian respondents track their partner's ex on Facebook
· Misuse of partner's risqué images post break-up is terrifying.
o Of the surveyed Indians, 28 per cent respondents have had an ex who threatened to release their risqué images online but did not go through with it. While 17 per cent have had an ex who carried out the threat
Cyber Stalking
o 44 per cent of people admitted to cyber stalking or following their significant other's ex on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
o Interestingly, it's majorly ‘women' who carry out the above mentioned revengeful acts - which is mostly because their partner cheated on them (47 per cent )
Storing sexually explicit data on phones
· A good chunk of ‘sexts' or sexually explicit text messages as well as personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos reside on the mobile device of Indian respondents
o 83 per cent of respondents in the age group of 45-54 have saved, stored or archived sexts or sexually explicit text messages that they sent to someone, on their mobile device
o 80 per cent of respondents in the age group of 35-44 have saved, stored or archived personal or intimate text messages, emails or photos that they sent to someone, on their mobile device
· Half of the polled Indians (53 per cent ) ask their partners to remove objectionable content once the relationship was over