By Chelsea Ritschel

With technology bringing us closer together than ever, some couples have begun taking their trust to new levels – by granting their significant others phone access via biometric recognition, or fingerprint.

The technologically-savvy relationship stage, allowing a partner fingerprint or facial recognition access, is essentially the millennial and Gen Z version of telling a partner your numeric password.

With iPhones and Androids capable of remembering multiple fingerprints or faces, it makes accessing a partner’s phone as easy as looking at it.

The reasons for having biometric recognition on a partner’s phone range from being able to change a song easily, or check an incoming notification, according to CNBC, which highlighted the trend, with one person comparing it to putting a significant other in the “top friends” section of Myspace.

And it also serves as a measure of trust, according to relationship expert Susan Winter, who told The Independent: “Sharing each other’s fingerprints (and having access to each other’s private messages and calls is indeed a sign of mutual trust.”

“This means that the couple is willing to commit to absolute transparency,” Winter told us. “Certainly, this eliminates many of the infidelity fears a partner may have while in a relationship.

“It’s a bold move that creates a foundation of trust and honesty.”

However, the unprecedented access raises questions about privacy boundaries in a relationship – and what can happen if a relationship goes south.

For one 32-year-old man from New York, who didn’t wish to be named, the access is simply too much in a relationship.

“I’ve got nothing to hide – my girlfriend even reads my journal – but it just feels like a step too far to have the only locked-down, private device of mine available for her to view at will,” he told us.

In addition to privacy boundaries, having the ability to use a fingerprint on a partner’s phone can also lead to security and data-breach issues.

Continue reading: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dating/fingerprint-access-iphone-facial-recognition-trust-android-biometric-cybersecurity-a8632321.html