I/O
Sexual Health Apps Can’t Replace Real Sex Talk
What a new service that purports to confirm users are taking HIV prevention medication gets wrong about relationships
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In I/O, columnist Lux Alptraum explores how technology intersects with sexuality and relationships. I/O will embrace the uncertainty of our future and help us craft a better tomorrow, together.
Back in 1984, during the early days of the HIV epidemic, Armistead Maupin’s novel Babycakes imagined a service that would help people partner up amid the crisis. “How do you let someone you are interested know that YOU ARE SAFE?” Babycakes’ fictional ad copy reads. “Now you can let others know simply by wearing your ‘I’M SAFE’ ring or pendant.”
Now 35 years later, dating with HIV is wildly different. HIV tests have gotten more accurate, enabling doctors to detect positive status within weeks of infection, rather than months. Major advances in treatment have made it possible for HIV+ people to live full, healthy lives. And medications like Truvada (also known as PrEP) help HIV– people have sex with HIV+ partners without fear of infection.
Even with all this progress, however, there’s still a market for products that purport to help people navigate tricky conversations about sexual health—or avoid having them in the first place. UrSure, a urine test that confirms the presence of PrEP in the body, recently partnered with Healthvana, a health app that helps people keep track of their lab results, to offer something of a modern approach to Babycakes’ ring.
“If the purpose [of showing a partner your test results] is that you believe you can further control the situation with another human, you’re doing it wrong.”
“Dating is hard to begin with, and those who have HIV or an STD need to be as careful as those who do not,” the press release declares. “Most sites allow users to self-report they are being treated or are on PrEP for HIV, but how can you prove it to your new date?” The press releases answers its own question in short order, noting that it’s now possible to show potential partners a screenshot from…
