A new sexting app that can be used to share intimate content, which its founders say is designed to have better security and anti-content sharing measures than messaging apps and social media, is launching this summer.
To use the Linq app, you upload your sexting content to the app then share a link with your intended partner, who uses it to view the content within the app. The content is end-to-end encrypted, and screenshots are disabled in the app. You can choose to ‘break’ the link after sending it to someone, disabling access to the content.
Linq is also set to have an AI-powered ability to recognise when someone is attempting to capture the image on screen with another device, or show it to another person, then block the content if this happens. Content in the app cannot be downloaded.
The idea is for the app to be a far more secure sexting platform than the likes of WhatsApp and Snapchat. WhatsApp has a function that allows you to make photos or videos you send to someone disappear after one view, but it doesn’t have measures to stop people recording content with another device.
Linq is expected to launch in summer 2025, and you can sign up to the waitlist on the app’s website now. The app’s creators say that sending photos on the app will always be free, but that premium services may be introduced.
To sign up to the app you’ll need to be verified on it through government ID and face recognition, to confirm your identity and that you are aged 18 or over.
Linq’s co-founder James Bradshaw was inspired to create the app after his brother was the victim of an attempted romance scam, in which the would-be scammer sent intimate images the brother had shared with them to the brother’s family members.
Scam stories like this are all too common, so extra layers of identity verification as well as content encryption and security could help raise the bar for sextortion attempts.
Linq’s makers say the app uses unique digital watermarks, so that “in the unlikely event that someone captures or shares content without permission, we can identify the specific user responsible”.
The company also says that it “actively collaborates” with law enforcement. The app has cooperation with the Internet Watch Foundation, a tech and analysis organization set up to help crack down on child abuse material.
In May, content that Linq had uploaded to TikTok with the aim of informing users about the app plus issues around sextortion, was banned on the platform, which has rules against posting sexual content. Bradshaw told The Times [paywall]: “It was galling. We’re building a platform to protect users. And yet we were treated like the very thing we’re trying to stop.”
Linq’s TikTok account was later reinstated, but random-seeming social media bans are all too common for anyone posting info about topics even tangentially related to ‘adult’ content.
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