NEW DELHI: A study has shown that 79 per cent of smartphone owners in India have password protection on their devices and 86 per cent of smartphone owners store personal and intimate information on their mobile devices which necessitates password protection.

McAfee, one of the world’s leading digital data protection company, has claimed in its study that the personal data may include passwords, bank account information, credit card numbers and personal or family photos.

It said 98 per cent Indians delete any personal text message, photos and emails regularly while 78 per cent regularly back up the data from their devices. As high as 96 per cent of the Indians believe that their data and personal photos are safe with their partners and most of them also share passwords with each other.

But 77 per cent of adults had their personal content leaked without their prior permission. Moreover, three out of 10 ex-partners threatened the other of exposing their personal photos online. Even though 49 per cent of the broken couples have asked the other to delete all personal content, few respond to the request.

Despite the veracity of the situation, McAfee claims that 53 per cent Indians still plan on sending romantic photos to their partners through email, SMS or social media on the Valentine’s Day.