Young couples are giving each other fingerprint access to their phones

kikovic/Shutterstock

• In the age of biometric security measures, some young
  people are choosing to grant phone access via fingerprint to
  their significant other. 
• Young couples say it’s convenient and serves as a
  measure of trust in the relationship. 
• However, that trust could backfire, as a current or
  former significant another acting in bad faith could cause a
  lot of damage with unrestricted access to a personal
  phone. 

In the age of biometric security, some young couples are
displaying a new form of trust. 

Millennial and Gen Z are choosing to grant phone access via
fingerprint to their significant other, which some say is
convenient and serves as a measure of trust in the relationship,

CNBC reports. Others say sharing that level of access could
become an issue if a current or former significant other wants to
cause some serious damage. 

Many modern phones incorporate some level of biometric security —
older iPhones use fingerprint technology while newer models use
facial recognition, and plenty of Android phones utilize either
method. This allows users to open their phones quickly without
needing to remember or input a password, but additional
fingerprints and faces can be  granted access as well. 

“I think that inherently, people desire to share themselves
and to be known. Sharing your phone fingerprints demonstrates
trust between two people, and that you are OK with being known by
that person, and that they’re OK with you knowing them too,” said
Emma Clarke, a 24-year-old who spoke with CNBC and has shared
fingerprint access with a boyfriend in the past. 

Here’s the reasoning some young couples gave CNBC for
granting biometric access to a significant other: 

• It’s convenient — you can switch songs while the other is
  driving, use apps that aren’t on your phone, or use the phone
  for a task while the other is busy. 
• It’s a display of trust and intimacy. 
• One person compared the action to putting a significant other
  in the “top friends” group on Myspace.

However, phones are powerful tools that are connected to most
aspects of our online lives, and providing someone that level of
access could prove troublesome if the relationship deteriorates,
or if people in the relationship have different definitions of
privacy. It’s best to remember that biometric access can be
revoked via the phone’s settings.