Protecting Your Online Data

During the last week you will have noticed that your inbox filled up with hundreds of emails mentioning the new General Data Protection Regulation (including one from us). It was put together to help to protect peoples’ personal data. However, it is also important to consider how you share your own personal data, so we have put together a guide to help you.

Passwords

When you sign up to a new website, try to use a different password each time so that if someone does manage to get hold of one of your passwords they will not be able to access everything that you have signed up for.

Sharing your contact details online

Don’t share contact details within your dating profile text. It might seem like a tempting way to avoid paying for online dating, but it will expose you to unwanted communication and the dating website won’t have access to your offline messages if you request an investigation.

Sharing your full name and location

On Muddy Matches we only allow you to use your first name as it is easy to find information about people if you have access to their full name and location, especially if you have a rare name. We also encourage people not to mention the name of their village, and instead to put their nearest town, or city.

Be wary of scammers

We work really hard to protect our members from scammers, but not all dating websites have the same measures in place to protect you. If you are ever wary about someone, you should not share personal details like your phone number, email address, social media hooks, or Skype name with them. Instead, you should cease communication with them and then report them to the dating website’s administrator so that they can investigate for you.