Family Privacy or No Privacy – Paa Kwesi Forson

This thing called privacy is a tricky one, especially at the family level. A joyous day in the life of a couple started well with a kiss on the cheek of the wife; she darts into the kitchen for breakfast. Beyond the kisses, the internet of things means The Husband’s phone is connected along with several other devices in the house. The Family shares common accounts on several streaming sites; one advantage is to monitor what everyone else in the family is watching; another is a reduced subscription fee for content every member of the family wishes to see.

Creepy

However, the wife intends to find out what kind of texts the husband receives on his WhatsApp chats. (Rolls Eyes) a cat and mouse game ensues between husband and wife, from hiding of phones to silent alerts (Thank God for these), to WhatsApp message encryption; but the wife powers through all these with the need to share almost all information in relationships (Key Word is Almost).

Imagine the Husband’s Joy when WhatsApp Inc (From Facebook) issued an update which introduced fingerprint unlock and Face Unlock. Wife decides enough of the games and noticed that the husband tends to leave his WhatsApp web sessions unlogged out. The Snake Offers the Apple which she gladly bites into, downloading the ever growing-popular Whats Chat, an app which mimics WhatsApp Web logins on Phone, and scans the QR tag in her husband’s WhatsApp app.

Finally, she can live monitor all the WhatsApp chats on her husband’s phone, Old, current present and future; she feels fulfilled. She receives a “ghosted” text “my love” on her husband’s account and excitedly she opens the app:” aha I have caught him today” only to find to her dismay the lover was her husband’s mother. She monitors the chats for close to four months silently lurking in the shadows as her mind plays games with her; will the joy in the family wilt over the privacy issues? She is expectant but alas her frustration leads to gaps in her privacy detection armoury.

Drumroll on privacy

Her Husband is alerted one day by a work colleague of several apps for monitoring WhatsApp chats visit WhatsApp web; in his dismay, he notices a “supposedly” authorized login at an odd time. Imagine the drama in the house that evening. A seemingly thriving marriage ends in “members” stealing glances at each other. This is a typical case of the 21st Century Family, Where Privacy is expected to be close to non-existent amongst family members and we need to be ready for the future.

Related: Love: Feels So Wrong