In our tech-first a world is full digital transparency between couples actually required in a relationship? And how dangerous could our oversharing be?
If you are in a relationship, but are not married, do you share your passwords with your significant other? It seems that most Americans do.
A recent survey[1] by British Virgin Islands-based VPN service provider ExpressVPN[2] asked 1,506 American adults in an exclusive (non-married) relationship to find out their password sharing habits across social media platforms.
The survey showed that couples share a variety of passwords with each other, and they most commonly share within the first six months of dating.
The most commonly shared passwords between couples are for video streaming (78%), mobile devices (64%), and music streaming (58%). Almost half (47%) of Americans in a relationship share social media passwords and 38% share their personal email passwords.
Most services, apart from social media and mobile device accounts (which are shared most with family), are more commonly shared with a significant other than family or friends.
Respondents said that sharing passwords is most indicative of trust (70%), commitment (63%), intimacy (54%), marriage-material (51%), affection (48%), and vulnerability (47%).
Among those sharing video streaming services, Netflix (86%), Hulu (57%), and Amazon Prime Video (52%) are shared most with a significant other.
Millennials and Generation Z are also more likely to share passwords with their significant others across all platforms, as compared to older folks
Among people who do not share passwords with anyone, the most common objection is that the same username and password combination is often used for additional accounts
Overall, respondents are most concerned about personal data privacy in regard to sharing login information for mobile wallets (72%), personal email