Technology can often expose the dark secrets of a cheating partner. One suspicious text, misdirected email or poorly-timed call, could be enough to unravel a relationship.
Now an app, billed as the �Snapchat for professionals�, has been launched to keep these misdeeds better hidden.
Called Confide, the text-based iOS app is the creation of former AOL executive, Jon Brod, and chief executive of Yext Howard Lerman.
The New York-based team plans to capitalise on Snapchat�s success by creating a version for business professional that want to keep sensitive communication secret.
Mr Brod claims the idea came about after Mr Lerman contacted him by email about a potential employee who Mr Brod did not want to discuss in writing.
�Think about the times someone sends a memo that says, �Confidential, do not forward,� or when someone asks for your personal e-mail to go off the company�s network," Mr Brod told Businessweek.
Messages are initially hidden under solid blocks. The text is revealed one line at a time if the recipient swipes his or her finger over a block.
But just as teens used the disappearing photo function of Snapchat for sexting, many have pointed out that Confide could be used by those in a relationship to cheat
�We don�t have the technology to read your messages,� Mr Lerman told Businessweek.
�Confide doesn�t store any messages on its servers, it doesn�t have the ability to retrieve them if a company, or the National Security Agency, comes knocking.�
Confide is different from Snapchat in that it connects potential users through their email addresses rather than their phone contacts.
Mr Lerman added that it�s also difficult to take screenshots of messages sent through Confide due to the app's interface.
It includes end-to-end encryption and Confide doesn�t possess a retrievable copy of the message.
This means that both the company and users can respond to disclosure demands by stating that the message in question has simple disappeared.
But just as hackers have found ways to expose flaws in Snapchat, it remains to be seen how solid Confide is in its security.
HOW THE CONFIDE APP WORKS
Confide is different from Snapchat in that it connects potential users through their email addresses rather than their phone contacts.
Messages are initially hidden under solid blocks.
The text is revealed one line at a time if the recipient swipes his or her finger over a block.
It�s difficult to take screenshots of messages sent through Confide due to the app's interface.
It also includes end-to-end encryption and Confide doesn�t possess a retrievable copy of the message.
This means that both the company and users can respond to disclosure demands by stating that the message in question has simple disappeared.
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