How to send your nudes safely

If you've ever sent or received a sext, you're not alone. In a 2013 study, around 27% of all smartphone users said they regularly received sext and 12% admitted to sending nudes (although those surveyed may have been shy). That number may be even higher now, as the study came out just as the internet, then an ephemeral multimedia messaging platform built around endangered photos and videos, was taking off.

This is a judgment free area. If you want to send a nude (and have a willing participant), send a nude. There is nothing wrong with nudity! Human bodies are beautiful! But it's also quite normal to want to maintain control over how your nudes are viewed and delivered.

The only way to really to control your naked distribution is to do it yourself. Just follow these simple steps: take a picture of your belongings, upload the picture to an encrypted hard drive, drop it in a password protected folder, confiscate your partner's phone, show them the picture, shut it down file, send their phone back and continue.

But it is deeply not very sexy! And not how sexting works either.

If you do decide to send nudes, you are taking the risk that those nudes will end up in a public forum and need to prepare for the worst-case scenario - but you can significantly reduce that risk by following this best practice guide for ~ sensual ~ electronics. Communication. These tips don't offer a complete guarantee that your nudes won't be disclosed, but they are a good first line of defense against dark interwebs.

One note: if you are under 18, never, ever, under any circumstances share a nude photo of yourself. You can be prosecuted as a sex offender, even for submitting a photo of yourself consensually.

1.

Do you trust the recipient? If you are not 100% sure, do not press send.

Here's the most important sexting tip of all: Send NSFW content only to people you trust. Does the recipient appear to be someone who would post your nudes for revenge or use them as blackmail? Do they feel like they are taking basic safety precautions with their devices (see: tip # 2)? Are they generally… trustworthy?

You can use apps that use the most secure end-to-end encryption available, but it doesn't matter if the person on the other end takes a screenshot and “accidentally” posts it to Twitter. So make sure the person you're sending your Anthony Weiner to is someone who understands the value of keeping your selfie.

2.

Add a passcode to your phone and encourage your sexting partner to do the same.

Because, duh! If their (or your) phone is stolen and left unlocked, your nudes could end up in the wrong hands.

The internet will display a particular icon (an arrow with spikes) when a screenshot of your nude has been taken. Instagram will also notify you if the recipient of an “endangered” Instagram direct message takes a screenshot.

However, none of these notification features prevent someone from taking the screenshot in the first place, and they could easily take advantage of the app's biggest flaw: taking a photo of the screen with another. apparatus.

4.

Fully encrypted apps will prevent hackers from getting your nudes, but they suffer from the same pitfalls.

Messaging apps that use end-to-end encryption, like Signal and WhatsApp, are ideal for protecting your various stripping states from hackers and government surveillance. But make no mistake: these apps don't offer tools that prevent screenshotting or taking pictures of the screen. Signal disables screenshots by default on Android, but disabling screenshots is not an option on iOS.

I would recommend using an app with verified full encryption (like Signal or WhatsApp) and delete photos and videos right after they are sent, but these apps are also good options for adding another layer of security.

Privates (free, iOS) is a good app to prevent screen capture. It has anti-screenshot measures that make it difficult to capture the screen without the help of another person. You can set your photo to expire and add different levels of security to it, such as asking the recipient to repeatedly press two circles to display the photo for short periods of time, align the phone to their face, and keep the phone on. very still. . You can choose to protect the photo with just one security measure, or all at once.

DiscKreet ($ 3, iOS) will ensure that unauthorized friends, family members, or thieves don't stare at your nudes using a two-password system. To view intimate recordings, each participant must enter their unique access code at the same time. Whenever you want to view a sent photo, you must first request permission from the sender.

Bleep (free, iOS and Android) is an ideal app for people who want their images to self-destruct after receiving them. It is made by the file sharing company BitTorrent, uses peer-to-peer communication, and does not store messages in the cloud. It has a "Whisper mode" which makes photos disappear as soon as they are seen. When a screenshot is detected, it scrambles the sender's name (which isn't * super * useful, but at least provides a line of defense).

In WhatsApp, open a conversation and tap the recipient icon to set Record incoming media à Never et Clear chat. These settings only remove pictures from your phone (not your sextee), so teach them how to do the same.

In Signal, you can enable Messages that disappear by opening a chat and pressing the recipient's name.

In Hangouts, open chat and click the three dots icon, then Options, to deactivate the conversation history.

In the settings of Google Allo, you can activate Private browsing mode, which enables end-to-end encryption.

In Facebook Messenger, you can enable encryption using a feature called " Secret conversation. »You can access it by pressing the (+) to start a new discussion> Secret > select the recipient.

7.

Make sure your face is not in the photo to anonymize it.

Don't be tempted by the full front mirror selfie. They already know your face is cute, anyway. Show people what they really want: YOUR BOD. Think creatively and point your camera down. Also be aware of other identifiable details such as distinctive tattoos and piercings.

And if you capture those identifiable details, try using Microsoft Paint or the markup tool built into the iPhone Photos app (open photo> settings (middle right button)> three-dot icon> Markup), to cover them with some scribbles.

Your nude can easily be traced back to your home using something called EXIF ​​data, which is embedded in every image file and can include the location.

This information cannot be deleted on the iPhone itself without a third-party application like Photo Investigator (free) or Metadata Cut (free), but it can be deleted on your Mac. Open the image in the Preview app> type command + i (or go to Tools > Show Inspector). Select the GPS tab, scroll down and click on Remove location information. You can also do this on a Samsung device by going to Gallery > Suites > Details > in the location section, by pressing the minus (-) button> Fact.

Turn off location tracking for future photos in the iPhone's Settings app. Go to Intimité > Rental services > Camera and set it to Never. On a Samsung phone, open the Camera app> tap the gear icon to Settings > turn the Location beacons settings disabled. On other Android phones, open the Camera app> settings menu (three bars)> rotate Save location to off.

9.

Make sure to check out the services that automatically back up your photos.

If you use Flickr, Google Photos, or iCloud Photo Library, prevent these services from automatically syncing your photo library before taking your nudes. Send the selfie, delete it, then re-enable the save.

Also, if you use WhatsApp and you've chosen to back up chats to iCloud or Google Drive, the sent images will remain in the cloud even after you delete the individual message from your phone. You will need to manually delete chats from your cloud service account.

ten.

Finally, learn how to save those nudes safely - and also teach your partner how to do it.

If you have to, the best way to back up your most sensitive photos is to use the aforementioned method: to an encrypted hard drive in a password protected folder.

On a Mac, it's pretty straightforward. Open the Disk Utility application. Go to deposit > New image > New folder image and select the folder you want to protect. Under Encryption options, select AES 128 bit encryption and add a password. Do not forget! You won't be able to get it back if you do. Under Image format options, select read / write so that you can always add and delete photos as you want.

You can also do this for individual files, through the Preview app. Go to deposit > Export to PDF > Show the details > Enable encryption and add a password below.

In Windows 10, right-click on the folder> Properties > Advanced > Encrypt content to secure data. To access the encrypted file, you will need the username and password of the connection you used to create it.