People’s location and personal information are key to the functioning of dating apps, so when using these tools it’s important to be clear on how to configure privacy to stay safe.
According to ESET Latin America, a company specializing in proactive threat detection, there are a few tips you can follow to better configure them.
“Choose the one that best suits your goals, but also offers the features you need to talk about in your environment. Keep all conversations within the app it will make you less vulnerable to scams and much easier to report scammers or abusers”, adds Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, Head of ESET Latin America Research Lab.
No matter which app is used, online dating is permanent. Millennials or boomers aren’t the only ones using these services to meet people. Half of Tinder users are Gen Z, but their dating style is very different from previous generations.
“It goes without saying that this is an ocean of new opportunities for scammers. But dating apps play an important role in society and they were a great company during lockdown times.”
Swiping or “swiping” ideas, photos, and information on Tinder that people need to “match”, meaning there’s a match, and if two people swipe their finger to the right on the screen, they can jump into the conversation. .
It requires an email address and phone number to sign up, making it technically more difficult for scammers to create multiple fake accounts and bot profiles.
Tips
check your profile. Blue checkmarks are earned after posting a selfie video on Tinder. The artificial intelligence the app uses will compare this video with your profile photos and verify your identity. Keep in mind that the face image is biometric data and you need to make sure this data is removed as Tinder claims.
Manage your visibility. If you want to take a break, disable the “Show on Tinder” option so only those who have been selected before can see the profile, according to Tinder. The Tinder Plus feature allows you to show yourself only to people you swipe directly on.
You can block unwanted contacts. You can block people you know from seeing it by entering your e-mail address or phone number in the “Block People” menu. If the person used this contact information when creating their Tinder account, your profile will not be visible to them.”.
check background
In the United States, you can request a criminal background check on individuals you match for $3.25 each.
You also need to “swipe to match” in this app, but only women can start chats in this case.
Those who want to match with people of the same gender can also use the app and it’s there if one of the parties can take the first step.There are also ways to find friends and business contacts.
Make previous calls or videos As an additional step to verify identity even if you don’t plan to meet face to face. Searching will reduce the chances of being scammed.
If you want to take a break but don’t want to delete your account, you can choose to temporarily hide a profile.
With the incognito option, a premium feature, the contact will only be visible to profiles you “swipe right”.
The Center for Safety and Wellness has resources focused on physical and mental health, including a comprehensive guide to avoiding “harmful behavior.” how to report an abuser or “detection and recovery of scams such as catfishing””. It also allows victims of sexual assault to connect with dedicated support lines.
Focusing on dating people of the same gender, especially those who identify as male, this app ranks other users on a grid based on their approximate distance from that person. The closer they are, the closer they are to reaching the top of the grid.
Please note that LGBTQ+ people are at higher risk in many countries. There are several cases of people being tricked by fake photo profiles that actually have scenes of violence, threats and torture.
Change the visibility. You can place it on the grid without showing exactly how far away it is.
Don’t show up for everyone. The “Discover” function allows users to search for people in other cities and countries; You can disable the view and continue using the app. This will prevent people from anywhere in the world from communicating, including scammers.
Disable the Views option. You can check all profiles without appearing in the list of people who visited a particular profile, and you cannot see who visits your own profile unless you pay for an unlimited subscription.
Limit the accuracy of geolocation.
In the “Consent Preferences” menu: disable all features, paying particular attention to “precise geolocation” and “offline data”, as these allow third parties to extract information from this data, including user-specific romantic encounters. Controlling certain privacy preferences is, of course, something to keep in mind regardless of the application.
Be careful what you share. When a picture is posted, it will be in someone’s chat; it is preferable to send expired images instead. If the Grindr Xtra feature is available in your country, you can lock a conversation if you want to make sure the other person loses access to it.
You can also revoke access to shared albums and block screenshots. Note that screenshots are prohibited in some regions, but not others.
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Source: Exame
