Hey there Guys,
I am in absolute shock. I am sitting here staring at my screen, amazed at the absolute depths to which some people will sink to make a dollar. Why am I so angry?
Let me introduce “the world’s first iPhone application that allows you to share your Sexually Tranmitted (sic) Infection/Human Immunodeficiency Virus STI/HIV screening history instantly and confidentially.” Check-Mate
Yes indeed, this gutter scraping corporation has gone and created an app that allows people to share STI test results to potential sexual partners. Basically a simple, straight forward way to tell “the clean from the unclean”.
Have a look at the screen shot and quote provided from their website to see what I mean.
Does being a Chec-Mate™ application user guarantee that the individual does not have an STI?
ABSOLUTLY NOT. The Chec-Mate™ application was developed to provide application users with a safe, secure and confidential platform to share important STI/HIV screening information and prevent individuals from providing false or misleading screening results that can be produced solely using outdated paper methods.
The company behind this app is the same company that created the concept of a “safe sex license”. A special card you can carry that one journalist reported : “It’s basically a license that can prove a clean bill of health or weed out the liars”
For these products I call the bullshit card.
I’m sorry but the results provided by any app, piece of paper or even whispered by the supple lips of your next potential date are nothing other then a wonderful recitation of previous history. This shared information offers nothing more than an illusion of regular testing, providing no data that would indicate “a clean bill of health” or even indicate that someone may be a “liar”.
Guys we are smarter than this.
Absolutely, get tested on a regular basis but the only person for which these results have meaning is you. For everyone else it’s about fantastic, hot, sweaty, safe sex no matter what some crappy app reports.
Please don’t get suckered in by bullshit like this.
Yours in good health.
Dr George
I agree with everyone and what has been said about this app especially the discriminatory culture it promotes. A really big problem for me is the false sense of security it claims to provide. As Jim said, one is only clear of STIs at their last test while any sexual contact since their last test carries risk. The way to go in managing one’s sexual health is practising safer sex (the definition being a whole other discussion) and regular testing.
Geez George, I’m normally a fan but I feel like you flew way wide of the mark on this one.
You say “For everyone else it’s about fantastic, hot, sweaty, safe sex no matter what some crappy app reports.” Bullshit. The only safe sex is no sex. EVERYTHING carries a risk. As a doctor I’m sure you already know this, but plenty of STIs can be transmitted through skin-on-skin and fluid-on-skin contact even when a condom is used properly. Let alone the fact that condoms break, and we all know that virtually no-one uses them for oral sex. So all sex, whether it’s with a condom and a trusted partner or bending over a barrel at Club 80 and letting any random bloke use you as he likes, exists on a continuum of risk. It’s up to an individual to inform themselves about the risks, assess the level of risk they’re prepared to take, and make sure their sexual practices don’t exceed that level of risk.
Guess what? Different people are comfortable with different levels of risk. Some guys are so paranoid they won’t do anything more than a handy. Some guys swallow loads, others don’t let guys cum in their mouths. Some guys will top bareback but use a rubber when they bottom. As long as these men are aware of the risks, these are their decisions to make. George, when you have sex you’re accepting a non-zero level of risk. Please don’t presume to arbitrarily define this boundary for other men.
While I can understand your reply I am a little confused.
I agree it was a presumption that people will choose to have safe sex. That said I am a doctor, I do believe in protecting our health. The role of safe sex is to prevent the transmission of HIV. As a bonus it also does reduce the transmission of STI’s however not to the same degree. As you said, “It’s up to an individual to inform themselves about the risks, assess the level of risk they’re prepared to take, and make sure their sexual practices don’t exceed that level of risk.”
The reason I created this post was to highlight this app and it’s ability to create a false sense of security. Despite what the developers have said there is a very likely potential that the app and it’s results may very well lead to people choosing to extend their boundaries on information that is out of date, and does not take into consideration what the person had done 3 months before the test, for HIV, or since the tests for that matter.
So what is going to happen when someone has a positive result on the app. Will they honestly continue to use the app? Will they photoshop a screen to look like everything was negative? My concern is that this app has the ability to sway people from the decisions they had made on the boundaries and risks they are willing to partake.
While I feel very confident that I would continue to make decisions about my sexual behaviours without some app to tell me how “clean” my partner is, can you say that is going to be the case for everyone?
Dr George
I can’t believe that someone was able to get this Apo. approved for publication. It’s almost commitcal.