How to stay safe on dating apps like tinder and bumble mashable


How to stay safe on dating apps
"By connecting Instagram to your profile, you’re giving Meta all the data points necessary to connect these people together on Instagram," said Tim Maliyil, founder of encryption and mobile security service AlertBoot. He himself has seen women from dating sites pop up on Instagram.
How to stay safe on dating apps
Staying safe when using dating apps is imperative. Apps like Tinder have implemented their own safety features, but if you're going to chat with and potentially meet strangers, it's important to know the ins and outs of keeping yourself safe in the digital world and IRL. Some of these tips come from RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network.
Safety tips when signing up for dating apps
First off, don't sign up with a dating app using a social media account like Facebook or Instagram. Previously, Bumble only had the option to sign up through Facebook. Thankfully, that's no more, and you can sign up for Bumble with your phone number. In fact, for other popular apps as well like Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, you can sign up with a phone number or email.
That's good news, because if you sign up with social media, it allows data from either platform to be exchanged with each other. This is why if you signed up with your Instagram account, for instance, matches may show up as recommended people to follow. While it's tempting to sign up through a social platform and let it populate your profile for you, it allows this exchange of data.
"By connecting Instagram to your profile, you’re giving Meta all the data points necessary to connect these people together on Instagram," said Tim Maliyil, founder of encryption and mobile security service AlertBoot. He himself has seen women from dating sites pop up on Instagram.
Another component is photos; when you sign up through a social account, the dating app will likely use pictures from said account. This can make it easy for potential matches to find you elsewhere online. Therefore, in addition to signing up with an email or phone number, use different photos than are on your social media.
If you're still concerned about people finding your social media profiles, lock them or adjust privacy settings.
Safety tips when swiping and searching for matches
Be diligent when looking at fellow singles' profiles. If they're verified (a feature which Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and OkCupid have), then you know this person looks like their pictures. But if they don't have a photo, or only have one, and they're not verified, that might be a red flag.
If they appear too-good-to-be-true — aka their photos look like magazine ads — you can screenshot someone's profile and reverse image search to see if someone is potentially catfishing, or lying about who they are online. If you think something fishy is going on, report the user to the app (which will probably give you the option to block, as well).
If their Facebook or Instagram account is connected, you can take advantage and look them up. Do they have a new, sparce Facebook account with two friends, as opposed to a decade-old account with schools listed and hundreds of connections? You'll probably want to swipe left on the former.