Affair Handbook

Affairs are supposed to be secret. That’s the whole idea. People have affairs because they want to experience a sexual relationship with someone they aren’t married to, without destroying their marriage. It’s a complicated and emotional issue that can cause myriad issues with everyone involved. Television and news programs are rife with stories of affairs gone wrong and murder and mayhem ensuing. Lust and betrayal are powerful emotions that can cause powerful actions. Cheating is also seen as a social taboo. Most who do it and get caught are thought of as less of a person by those that know them, especially if they know the blighted spouse. Keeping an affair secret is important, not only to save your own reputation and marriage but to save the feelings of those you care most about.

The age of technology is upon us and there has been no facet of life untouched. Everything from cooking to driving to dating has been affected by some form of technology to make it easier or safer or just more fun. In the case of dating and having affairs, technology has also made it easier to keep secret. Apps like Snapchat, Cyberdust and Wickr are a few of the most popular dating apps people use for affairs, but which one is the safest when it comes to keeping things on the down low? Each has its own benefits and advantages to compare.

SnapChat

SnapChap is an app that send messages, photos and videos. It is popular among teens, tweens and young adults for its auto-erase feature. Once a photo or messages is sent, it disappears in a preset timeframe set by the sender. Photos can be dressed up with filters, stickers and text before sending. Senders can even send short videos and all is obliterated into the universe shortly after it is received. There’s one catch. The dreaded screenshot. Anyone that receives a photo through the Snapchat app can save it by taking a screenshot. The app alerts the sender if a screenshot is taken of their message but by then the damage is done. Snapchat is not the app for sending nude photos to someone you’re not supposed to. Photos of your fine dining experience or the day you finally touch your tongue to your nose are perfect, however.

Wickr

Wickr is a messaging app that self-destructs the messages within a specific time frame. Users choose the length anywhere from one second, to 5 days, or up to 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds. Its billed as the Snapchat for adults because it lacks all the tricks and flash of an app with not much substance. While messages through other such apps also disintegrates, it does not do so to the extent of Wickr. The difference between this app and many others is that is has military grade security devices. The Internet never forgets. Everything you upload is there forever and ever. Wickr developers, however, has designed the app to encrypt all messages. Not only is it perfect for dating but for any activity that may be volatile or private. According to Mashable, the app is attempting to bring NSA-level encryption to the general public. In essence, to democratize privacy. The trick is that messages are sent locked in a fashion so that only the receiver can see them. Anyone else confiscating them along the way cannot. Screenshots are not possible from Android devices. If a screenshot is taken from an iOs device the sender is notified and shown the screenshot. There is no proof, however, who sent or received the message.

Cyberdust

Another ephemeral messaging service, Cyberdust offers fully encrypted messages that disappear. A company which Mark Cuban is vested in, it also sends photos, URL’s, blast messages and animated GIF’s. Not much different than other messaging apps. It offers world-wide service and incredibly fast transmission. The company bills its greatest selling point as being able to send entire self-destructing, non-traceable messages, not just photos. There is no video sending service, though.

Unless you’re a CIA operative, Wickr seems to be the most secure ephemeral messaging service on the market. The one exception being the dreaded screenshots. It is impossible to stop betrayal by those you trust with any technology. If anyone was determined to keep a photo meant to be fleeting they could simply use another phone or camera to snap a shot before the image disappears. The most obvious solution would be not to send any incriminating photos unless you have fully come to terms that it may leak out at an inopportune moment.

Using these fun and easy apps is a great way to spice up a love affair. Sneaky, quick photos to remind each other of the fun you’re having together is a risk but one that hardly anyone can resist.