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Good2Go? New app aims to track sexual consent

Is Good2Go a good idea? App aims to address problem of campus sexual assault but tracks some pretty intimate personal data.

Agata Blaszczak-Boxe CBSNews.com Writer
Agata Blaszczak-Boxe is a freelance journalist with a love for print, photography and video. She has written for CBSNews.com, Psychology Today, DAME Magazine, Live Science and other publications. She specializes in health and science reporting.
Agata Blaszczak-Boxe
3 min read

Technology can benefit us in so many ways, but it may not be the right answer for every problem. The latest example sparking debate nationwide: a new smartphone app that prompts people to go on record about their desire to have (or not to have) sex, along with their sobriety level at the time, CBS San Francisco reports.

The app, called Good2Go, recently launched for both Android and iOS by San Diego County-based Sandton Technologies.

The company claims the app can be beneficial in helping people communicate and prevent potential sexual assault:

"We hope Good2Go will facilitate communication between two consenting adults, which will result in fewer situations in which one party is uncomfortable, unwilling or unable to give consent for sexual activity," it says on its webpage.

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Screenshot by CNET

However, this attempt to "facilitate communication" about sexual consent through an app is also fraught with privacy risks. The app has the potential to create a data track of a person's sexual encounters combined with their professed level of sobriety during those encounters.

"According to its small print, Good2Go logs personally identifiable information, including names and phone numbers, on all its users," Caitlin Dewey writes in the Washington Post. "When two people use the app to hook up, it records both users' phone numbers, as well as the time and one partner's sobriety."

Good2Go claims its database is not available either to the public or to the individual users of the app, and that any details of user interactions would only be released after a "proper request has been made by appropriate authorities, such as law enforcement or a university as part of an investigation."

So, how does this technological communication aid work?

When a person proposes to have sex with another, he or she can simply hand their phone over to the potential partner to assess their mutual interest. Then, the partner is prompted by the app to pick one of three options: "No, thanks," "Yes, but... we need to talk" or "I'm Good2Go."

If the user chooses the first option, the app will elaborate on the definition of the word "no": "Remember! No means No! Only Yes means Yes, BUT can be changed to NO at anytime!"

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Choosing the second option will prompt the app to very politely pause and give the user some time to have a discussion. And choosing the "Good2Go" option prompts another screen with an array of very specific options to check if the person is "sober," "mildly intoxicated," "intoxicated but Good2Go" or "pretty wasted."

Now, if the user admits that he or she is indeed "pretty wasted," the choice will immediately revert to: "no, thanks."

All this is happening in light of Gov. Jerry Brown's recent signing of a bill that makes California the first state to require "affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity" on college campuses and to adopt requirements for colleges to follow when investigating sexual assault reports.

Under the new law, someone who is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep cannot grant consent.

Meanwhile, the company promotes the "Good2Go" app as the "new condom" in the FAQ section of the website:

"Good2Go should be treated in the same manner as putting on a condom. It may stop the action for a second, but everyone understands it is in the interest of safety, so it is worth the momentary pause."

This article originally appeared on CBSNews.com.