Protecting Your Privacy On Free On Line Dating Sites

Mar 13
08:49

2009

Alan Lim

Alan Lim

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Your privacy is something that could be easily violated on free on line dating sites if you’re not smart and you don’t take precautions to protect yourself.

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An important part of wisely using free on line dating sites is learning how to protect your privacy. Even though you are meeting potential romantic partners,Protecting Your Privacy On Free On Line Dating Sites Articles you don’t have to divulge all of your personal information. In fact, you could be putting yourself at great risk if you don’t take at least some precautions when it comes to your privacy.

Keep Your Identity to Yourself

You might want to think of your privacy protection efforts as being comparable to a superhero who can’t let everyone know his or her real identity because all of the villains would know who to go after. While you don’t have to worry about genetically mutated evil doers (hopefully), you do have to be on the lookout for some problematic folks. Just like everywhere else on the Internet, you’ll find some scam artists who will use these free on line dating sites as a source of potential marks.

The bottom line is you shouldn’t reveal too much about yourself and that means even your name. Go by your screen name only for awhile. Once you get to know each other a little bit, you can start using first names but guard your last name until you are absolutely sure this is a person you can trust.

Be Careful About the Photos

While you might think you only have to worry about revealing your secrets via your profile, that’s not the case. Sometimes what we allow to be included in the photos we post can be more telling than anything we say. For example, you might include a photo taken at a nearby attraction or one with someone wearing a foot ball jersey for the local team. Some photographs might even include license plates which could give away your location.

Now you might be wondering why it matters, especially if you eventually plan to meet anyway and there is a good reason. While most of the people you meet through free on line dating sites are going to be great, a small portion may not be and these people could use that information to track you down. They could become stalkers, scammers, or even worse. That’s why you have to take precautions. Preventing the problem is going to be a lot easier than fixing it.

Do Not Give Out Personal Contact Information

Even if you’ve met someone through one of the free on line dating services, you still want to be careful about revealing too much information about yourself. Most of the services provide several communication methods that will help you keep your identity safe. However, you can also set up a separate email account through a general service, such as Google or Yahoo. You could also use a long distance calling card to phone the person because these cards mask your number and your location. You should also avoid giving out any contact information about your loved ones as well, especially your children. Remember that the more snippets you provide on the free on line dating site, the easier it will be for them to be pieced back together by someone with bad intentions.