Our phones are critical for how we function personally and professionally. In an age of instant gratification, we occasionally overshare pictures and comments with the wrong person. More than ever, we need to slow down to evaluate the nature of our relationships and exercise greater caution when deciding who to sharing photos with and why. Today, sexting is pervasive among people of all ages. It’s a commonplace form of digital courtship that’s been embraced across generations. According to Drexel University study, adults, couples and singles, all engage in sexting to spice up their sex lives or flirt.
Sexting has given rise to a growing crime called ‘revenge porn’ that is best described as the digital assault of one’s privacy using personal intimate photos or videos. This digital content is often taken without the victim’s knowledge or consent. The digital assailant’s aim is to exact revenge by humiliating and distressing the victim.
Revenge Porn’s Impact
Eighty-three percent of revenge porn victims say they took nude photos or videos of themselves and shared it with someone else. Typically the photo’s recipient is a lover, boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse. Unfortunately, relationships aren’t always everlasting. Sometimes an individual isn’t mature enough to let go and move on if the relationship sours. Instead, revenge porn has become a tactic for some to control, humiliate, harm or even blackmail an ex. Increasingly, sextortion is morphing into a by-product of revenge porn. Sextortion involves a threat and extortion, where assailants threaten to share photos unless the victim provides money, favors or other digital imagery.
High profile celebrity hacks provoke a spike in stories about revenge porn. Yet, everyday people are most often victims of revenge porn. In a single month, Facebook uncovered 54,000 potential cases of revenge pornography and sextortion.
As if public humiliation from revenge porn weren’t bad enough, often personal details accompany these posts; putting the victim at risk even in the safety of her own home. Assailants routinely expose victims’ private information like home address, phone number, email, employer and social media profiles.
The ease, speed, distribution and anonymity that the Internet, social media and chat sites provide (i.e.: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Discord, etc.) are ideal conditions for committing these crimes.
Revenge porn isn’t just an unfortunate incident. Its repercussions are long-lasting and costly. Victims can be haunted for years. Nearly 95% of revenge porn victims suffer significant emotional distress, worrying about the damage to their reputation, career track, and whether family (children in particular) will someday stumble across the content. Victims must often seek costly professional counseling to cope with emotional trauma. Research from an End Revenge Porn Campaign showed that 51% of revenge porn victims have suicidal thoughts. The same report found 90% of revenge porn victims are women.
Tougher Laws And Bigger Penalties On The Way
In the U.S., revenge porn is illegal in 38 states and D.C., yet fewer than 12 states make revenge porn a felony — the rest deem it a misdemeanor. Finally, there’s growing pressure from lawmakers to criminalize the act of revenge porn. Lawmakers criticize social networking vendors and chat sites for discounting the rampant abuse and are no longer confident that they’re doing enough. Legislators have recently banded together to swiftly combat the crime through tougher laws and requirements. In late November, the first bipartisan bill was introduced seeking to make revenge porn a federal crime.
Privacy Protection Measures
There are basic safety measures that people can take to protect personal content and privacy. Consider these measures as essential to your digital safety as locking the front door of your home to protecting your physical safety.
- Password-protect your phone and apps
In the event that you misplace your phone, make sure that others can’t get into your device and access your text, email and social media apps. Even if you don’t lose your phone, you may step away from it and leave it vulnerable to people who take advantage of what they find! Turn on Fingerprint or Touch ID in your phone settings. An app locker like Keepsafe’s App Lock protects you by only opening your apps when you enter a passcode or use fingerprint authentication. - Lock away private pictures
Consider using a photo vault like Keepsafe (iOS, Android) to secure your personal photos behind a password-protected PIN code. You can import pictures into your locked photo vault and delete them from your camera roll or gallery so you never need to worry about them being seen by others.
The Bottom Line
So should people withhold from being themselves and refrain from taking and sharing digital content even with loved ones? In life, there are no guarantees. We cannot live in fear nor should we shy away from pursuing a normal, carefree life.
Parents need to have good communication with children about making wise choices when sharing digital content and the importance of consent. Adults need to understand the realities and damaging consequences of revenge porn and tread cautiously.
The future looks promising as lawmakers and technologists catch up to current trends. Tougher laws, tighter policies and new tools for defending people’s privacy are just some of the ways we can address and combat revenge porn. Scrupulous enforcement from lawmakers and better deterrence from technology companies will be key to winning the fight.
