Worried your consensual one-night stand will turn into a rape allegation because you didn’t get proper verbal and written consent from your sexual partner?
Well, now there’s an app for that.
The new program “LegalFling” claims to provide couples who hook up on the fly with an easy way to avoid being later accused of taking advantage of one another: an app that couples can use to create a “legally binding” contract, saying that both of them consent to their casual union.
After downloading LegalFling, you can send “requests” to potential partners, who then have the option of checking off certain boxes, like “use a condom,” “photo and video,” and “BDSM.” After the two parties agree to the terms of their engagement, they can select a box that says “accept and fling,” and the app stores the contract for later reference.
If you later decide you want to revoke your consent, you grab the phone, and electronically end the hook up. You can also, according to the app’s website, use the app to write “notes” about your experiences. All of these notes and contracts are then maintained securely — and privately — using blockchain, the same kind of technology that protects Bitcoin.
The app’s creators believe that they are “solving” the problem of consent issues, but LegalFling still hasn’t passed either Apple nor Google’s approval process. It’s also questionable whether the contracts are, in fact, legally binding.
Because they aren’t filed anywhere — and because the language is vague and concerns an intimate relationship — the app could certainly provide evidence of a current frame of mind, but would probably fall short of being officially “legally binding.”