How to Protect Your Contact Details
Tuesday, July 21st, 2015
By using an online dating website to contact people, you can keep your details private until you wish to reveal them. You can even use a pseudonym if you wish so that people don’t know what your real name is until you choose to tell them.
Here are some things that you can do for yourself to make sure that you keep your personal details safe:
Do keep your password a secret – You’re always told not to share your bank login and password with people and the same is true for online dating. Don’t tell anyone what it is; even staff who work for the dating website. It’s also a good idea to use a unique password for every website you use.
Do log out of the site – Log out of the dating website between uses so that people can’t get on to your online dating account while you are still logged in. This is especially important if you share the computer with other people.
Don’t put your contact details in your profile – You may think that it’s a smart way to avoid paying for a subscription, but it means that your personal details are shared with thousands of strangers. By using the private messaging function on an online dating website, your personal details will be kept private and secure.
Do be cautious – If you ever feel uncomfortable with someone’s behaviour, stop contacting them and let the website administrator know so that they can investigate. If you report someone on Muddy Matches, we will look into it without letting the person know that you have reported them. If we feel that your suspicions are unfounded we will let you know.
Don’t give out your details straight away – If someone says “What’s your number?” in their first message to you, it’s not a good idea to give out your contact details. Although some people do prefer to chat on the phone or via Skype, you should be weary of anyone who doesn’t take the time to get to know you first.
Have a dating only email address – If you plan to give out your email address, but aren’t sure about someone just yet, set up an email address which you just use for dating.
