All isn’t fair in love and romance today, as 43% of people in a committed relationship said they have felt pressured by their own partners to share logins, passcodes, and/or locations. A worrying 7% admitted that this type of pressure has included the threat of breaking up or the threat of physical or emotional harm.
These are latest findings from original research conducted by Malwarebytes to explore how romantic couples navigate shared digital access to one another’s devices, accounts, and location information.
In short, digital sharing is the norm in modern relationships, but it doesn’t come without its fears.
While everybody shares some type of device, account, or location access with their significant other (100% of respondents), and plenty grant their significant other access to at least one personal account (85%), a sizeable portion longs for something different—31% said they worry about “how easy it is for my partner to track what I’m doing and where I am all times because of how much we share,” and 40% worry that “telling my partner I don’t want to share logins, PINs, and/or locations would upset them.”
By surveying 500 people in committed relationships in the United States, Malwarebytes has captured a unique portrait of what it means to date, marry, and be in love in 2024—a part of life that is now inseparable from smart devices, apps, and the internet at large.
The complete findings can be found in the latest report, “What’s mine is yours: How couples share an all-access pass to their digital lives.” You can read the full report below.
Here are some of the key findings:
- Partners share their personal login information for an average of 12 different types of accounts.
- 48% of partners share the login information of their personal email accounts.
- 30% of partners regret sharing location tracking.
- 18% of partners regret sharing account access. The number is significantly higher for men (30%).
- 29% of partners said an ex-partner used their accounts to track their location, impersonate them, access their financial accounts, and other harms.
- Around one in three Gen Z and Millennial partners report an ex has used their accounts to stalk them.
But the data doesn’t only point to causes for concern. It also highlights an opportunity for learning. As Malwarebytes reveals in this latest research, people are looking for guidance, with seven in 10 people admitting they want help navigating digital co-habitation.
According to one Gen Z survey respondent:
“I feel like it might take some effort (to digitally disentangle) because we are more seriously involved. We have many other kinds of digital ties that we would have to undo in order to break free from one another.”
That is why, today, Malwarebytes is also launching its online resource hub: Modern Love in the Digital Age. At this new guidance portal, readers can learn about whether they should share their locations with their partners, why car location tracking presents a new problem for some couples, and how they can protect themselves from online harassment. Access the hub below.