Sharing photos and videos… only once
How does it work?
Apps such as Snapchat (http://www.snapchat.com - for both iOS and Android) and Facebook Poke (see the App Store - currently for iOS only) all operate along the same principle: you take a picture or video and send it to one or more friends immediately.
You can configure how long recipients are allowed to see the photo or video (Snapchat: one to ten seconds, Poke: one, three, five or ten seconds). When recipients (at Facebook: only Facebook friends, at Snapchat: Facebook friends or other Snapchat users) click on the incoming message, a timer immediately starts counting down to the time the photo will disappear.
The recipient should at the same time press and hold a button on the screen to keep watching. After the set time, the photo or video will disappear, and it isn’t stored on the servers - Snapchat removes it immediately, Facebook after two days.
How safe is it?
Both Snapchat and Poke will warn you when someone’s trying to make a screenshot of a picture you’ve just sent them. However, they can’t prevent them from doing so. Alternatively, someone can photograph or film your message using another device, so this system isn’t entirely watertight.
It may even be possible to locate all the photos or videos concerned on the recipient’s device using dedicated software, since all these items are also saved temporarily.
Share only with your partner
For a more discreet approach, in which you share photos or videos only with someone you really trust, try Couple (http://couple.me - for both iOS and Android). It’s a classic social networking app, but only consists of two people: you and your partner. You can chat with each other, share photos and videos, exchange (voice) messages and to do lists, or let the other person know exactly where you are, etc. You can also send photos which destroy themselves as soon as they have been viewed.
Safe file-sharing
If your main concern is that others might intercept the messages, photos and videos you share with others, give the Wickr app a try (https://www.mywickr.com - for iOS only, Android coming soon).
This app lets you send text messages, photos and videos which destroy themselves after one second, or after up to five days, 23 hrs, 59 mins and 59 secs. The messages are password protected and encrypted, both on the Wickr servers and the smartphones involved. So it’s impossible to view them or reopen them without using the app itself. Note. There’s only one possible minus with Wickr: this app uses a type of encryption which hasn’t been independently verified by external experts, so there may be some doubts about the reliability.
To be absolutely sure of the reliability of the protection offered, it’s better to use the Silent Text app (https://silentcircle.com - for iOS only, shortly also for Android). This app was created by the developer of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and is “open source”. This means it has been verified by external experts.
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