Since revenge porn became a thing, exhibitionistically inclined couples have been looking for a way to privately and securely exchange photos of their naughty bits. But up to this point, it’s been pretty much impossible for anyone to take an impromptu, under-the-desk crotch selfie without knowing there’s a significant risk of that image falling into the wrong hands.
A new couples sexting app, Disckreet, promises to change all that. Created by the Australian digital strategy firm Antovate, Disckreet is marketing itself as “the safest way to record your intimate moments as a couple” by encrypting your files and only making them accessible via passcode.
Much like the couples messaging app You & Me, which also includes a sexting (or “Secret”) feature, Disckreet is a social network exclusively for two members: you, and your partner. Both of you get a passcode when you buy the app for 99 cents, and you can’t log on until you each enter your passcodes, ensuring that the files won’t be uploaded to the other person’s device. No one but you two will be able to access any of the cherished family photos and other assorted mementoes (re: crotch shots, dick pix, and vag grabs) you might have stored on the app.
Even though it has an incredibly stupid name (Why Disckreet? Why not just Discreet, or even Diskreet? Disckreet just sounds like a vaguely misogynistic sex act popular among rappers in the early aughts.) Disckreet is actually a pretty good idea: Despite the legal restrictions on revenge porn currently being implemented in various states, the practice is still extremely common. Since no one is actually going to stop using their mobile devices to take steamy selfies, there’s a real need for apps like Disckreet and You & Me, which allow couples to express their sexuality while still ostensibly maintaining their privacy.
Of course, as is the case with any messaging app, there are still obvious privacy concerns, if this year’s Snapchat hack is any indication: Despite Snapchat’s repeated assurances that our photos disappeared into the digital ether after we sent them, we’ve repeatedly discovered this is actually not the case. There’s nothing to say that’s not the case with Disckreet, and what security measures the company has in place in the event of a data hack. (The website says the files are encrypted, so even if the device falls into the wrong hands no one can access your files, but we’ve certainly heard that song and dance before.)
We’ve reached out to Antovate with some of these questions, and will update when we hear back. But for now, it’s probably a good idea to approach couples’ sexting apps with at least some degree of caution, and until the law catches up with technology, restrict your exhibitionistic tendencies to a box of naughty Polaroids in your dresser.
H/T iTunes | Illustration by Jason Reed