Letter: Cautionary tale of dating in a digital-first environment

Sharing your location with a romantic partner is a personal choice, but Elaine Moore’s advice to share with “family and close friends only, not new dates” (“Forget privacy, the young want to be tracked”, Opinion, June 24) is balanced in its caution.

However, the caution doesn’t end with new acquaintances. Our research revealed that 43 per cent of people in a committed relationship have felt pressured by their own partners to share logins, passcodes, and/or locations, and 30 per cent regret sharing location tracking.

Education around navigating and managing the implications of location sharing is paramount. This is especially critical as younger generations — including Gen Alpha and those following them — embark on their dating journeys in a digital-first environment. Digital data is permanent and easily accessible, so caution is essential when sharing your location information.

David Ruiz
Senior Privacy Advocate, Malwarebytes, Santa Clara, CA, US