App allows you to legally consent to sex
(WFLA) – A new app for your smartphone aims to clear up any confusion over sexual consent “with the swipe of a finger,” Business Insider reports.
Dutch blockchain company LegalThings announced its developing LegalFling, an app that allows potential sex partners to give legal consent through a legally binding agreement on their app.
“Sex should not only be fun, but also safe,” LegalFling creator Rick Schmitz, chief executive of tech company LegalThings, told Reuters. “You’re not going to ask someone to sign a contract before sex; LegalFling is an easy way to clearly set and communicate rules and boundaries before having sex.”
Users are also able to mark their do’s and don’ts, allowing their partner to know which practices they are not comfortable with.
Developers say the agreements could be used in court if, for example, one partner shared intimate images as a form of revenge porn.
Schmitz and his partners reportedly created the app in response to Sweden’s proposed rape laws that would require people to get explicit consent before sexual contact.
Since the app uses blockchain, a permanent database that anyone with an internet connection can use, the contracts will be impossible to tamper with.
The app has already been met with criticism.
In an article for Gizmodo, Journalist Melanie Ehrenkranz called the app a “deeply flawed representation of sexual consent.”
“A blanketed contract ahead of engaging in sexual contact signals that consent is simply a one-time checklist. Consent, however, is something that occurs continually throughout a sexual encounter.”
The LegalFling website does acknowledge users can change their mind and withdraw consent through the app.