Online snooping on the up

Brits logging in to check on their other halves

9 April 2008 17:33 GMT / By Katie Scott

It seems that an increasing number of us are snooping on what are our other halves are doing online.

A survey by researchers at Oxford University have found that 20% of married internet users regularly peek at their spouses' emails and text messages.

The Oxford Internet Institute surveyed 2401 married people.

13% of respondents admitted to checking up on their partner's browser history (which probably means more do it but didn't own up).

The research also found differences between the sexes on what it is acceptible to do online.

Men, for example, were less likely to disagree if their partner visited adult sites.

Unsurprisingly, 97% of the respondents said that they would be unhappy if their partner fell in love with someone else via the Internet.

Respondents also said their partner would get the boot for cyber-sex (94%), disclosing intimate details (92%), communicating relationship troubles (89%), sharing personal information about a partner (88%), and flirting (85%).

Despite the massive number of online dating sites out there, the researchers found that just 6% of married internet users first encountered their partner online - with 34% of those finding true love on a dating site.

The researchers also found that couples who meet online were more likely to have different levels of education (36% compared with 21% of "offline" couples) and an age gap of more than 6 years (39% compared with 24%).

Full tags

Software, Online, Websites, Statistics