I’ve been wanting to get back into dating. However, due to a combination of my location and general interests, there’s just not a lot of stuff that happens around me where I can naturally meet people with shared interests.
Online dating seems like the only viable option, but the problem is it can’t really be done in good faith without revealing more info about myself online. Also, what about the platforms? I don’t trust what happens behind the scenes with my info on apps like tinder or some others where it’s basically required to have a facebook account which I refuse to get.
So in all, if you have to do online dating, what’s the least privacy invasive way to do it? I’m OK with paying for access to any platform/methods suggested.
-Try to seek for a website that does not require a android application. Check what form of payment the site accept, I would try to use paypal or a prepaid credit card.
-Don’t provide your real phone number.
-If you must a phone, I would reset a phone and only use it for this. Without using it from my home, only from public space (and work space if it located in a crowded area). Phone localisation is your main threat ( GPS, cellular and WIFI based).
-Dont include photos that are near your home, or have unique identifier.
-Dont use your complete real name.
Thoses are just the basic, in the end you will not be really private, but it’s better than nothing.
I found that Mozilla actually has a great write up concerning the privacy aspects of various dating platforms. It’s a couple years old, but still very educational.
Happn might be ok, but there’s a possibility you’ll have to deal with facial verification.
Eharmony seemed like the least of the evils, but the fact that they have AI scanning every message you send immediately turns me off.
Last time I tried to sign up for tinder/bumble earlier this year they both required ID verification to create an account. This is a new thing that Match Group started doing to combat catfishing/spam. It’s likely that most other dating apps/services are implementing this as well.
I tried VPNing to other states/countries but it seems to be a global requirement now for account creation.
That being said, if you’re ok with that and still want to sign up, I’d begin with getting a cheap XMPP number from jmp.chat or a single use number from sms-pool.net for account creation. If they also require email then temp-mail.org is easy to use and isn’t flagged as spam as of yet.
If the service you decide to use allows account creation and use from the browser (tinder does, bumble doesn’t), then use that in lieu of the app.
All of these services requrie photos of yourself (and you’d never actually get dates with out any). Since facial recognition is a thing you are not going to be gaining much by using a fake name (would even be flagging yourself to internal systems if you had to ID verify, which you’d then be banned). Furthermore, potential dates may see it themselves as a red flag if you suddenly tell them your name is X not Y. Some may understand the reasoning why, most probably will not.
IMO the ID verification is a full stop for me. It’s just not worth it giving those shitty companies that much extra data. Best to drop the online stuff and touch some grass and hope you run into someone IRL.
