DateableA monthly privacy check while you are dating
Once a month: search yourself online, review who can see your photos, check your app permissions, update passwords, and block anyone you no longer want to see.
A monthly privacy check takes five minutes and stops problems before they start. Search yourself online, review who can access your private photos, check what each app can see, update passwords, and block people you are no longer dating. Done once a month, it catches most privacy problems early.
Search yourself online
Once a month, search your own name and number in Google, and search your username across dating sites. The first search finds you if you are on public forums or have been written about; the second finds accounts that might have your photos or personal information. Set a calendar reminder for the first Friday of each month, so you never forget.
If you find your photo or information somewhere that worries you, note where it is. If it is on a dating site you did not join, your email or photos may have been stolen. If it is on a forum or website, you can ask the owner to remove it or ask Google to remove it from search results.
Review who can see your private album
On Dateable, you control who sees your private photos: you grant or revoke access per person, and you can change it any time. Once a month, open your profile and run through the list. You are probably dating fewer people than you were last month, and people have probably deleted your number or moved on. Remove access for anyone you are no longer seeing.
You can review access to your private photos on the Dateable members app. It takes a minute and is worth doing before you even delete a profile, because photos you remove from view are gone, but access you forget to revoke stays open.
Check location sharing and app permissions
Every app on your phone can ask for permission to use your location. Facebook does, Google Maps does, your browser does. Some of these are useful: sharing your location with your banking app protects your account because your bank can see that you are where your phone normally is. Sharing it with a dating app means the app learns where you live and where you work, and so does anyone else who works at that company.
Once a month, go to your phone's settings and review location permissions. Only switch on location services when necessary, and share location with as few apps as possible. 1 If a dating app does not need your location, turn it off. If you are using a dating app and you do not want to share your real home location, use location services to show a nearby area instead.
If you share location with a date through your phone or messaging app, remember that you are also sharing it with every app running in the background. Messaging apps often keep location data even after you turn off location sharing.
Update passwords
Once a month is too often for most people, but every three months is reasonable. Update your password on the dating app you use, on your email and on your bank login. A strong password is at least twelve characters and includes capital letters, numbers and symbols: GoldDigger_2026. An easy way to make it strong is to use the first letters of a phrase you will remember: "I dated a generous member in 2026 and had a great time" gives you IdAgMiAhAt.
If a dating app you use gets hacked, or if your email is compromised, the first thing the criminal does is change your password and lock you out of your account. Scammers can also intercept bank SMS codes if they port your mobile number to their own device. Turn on multi-factor authentication for your dating app and your bank if they offer it. It means that even if someone has your password, they need a code from your phone to log in. 2
Block people you no longer want to see
Once a month, go through your chats and block anyone you are no longer dating, or anyone who makes you uncomfortable. Blocking is private: they will not be told, and they will not see you in search results. You can block a profile with one press, and you can keep the conversation if you need it as evidence.
You do not owe anyone an explanation for blocking them. You are not being rude by ending a conversation that no longer serves you.
What changes most often
The things most likely to become a privacy problem are:
- Someone you dated is now angry or hurt and may try to access your accounts.
- A scammer has your email and is trying to log in.
- An app you downloaded asks for location access you did not know you gave it.
- Your password is still the same as when you opened the account.
A monthly check catches all of these before they become a problem. Your passwords change, so old ones no longer work. Your block list gets smaller, so people you are no longer seeing no longer have access. Your location sharing gets tighter, so fewer apps know where you live.
If you find something
If a search finds your photo somewhere, or if you get a warning from your phone provider, or if you cannot log in: act straight away. Do not wait until your next scheduled check.
I tried to log in and it would not let me. I got an email from my bank saying someone tried to use my card.
Call your bank first, then change your password if you can. If you cannot log in, use the "forgot password" link. If that does not work, contact support. Then call IDCARE on 1800 595 160, which is a free identity recovery service.
You can report account takeover to your phone provider, your email service, your bank and the dating app. You are not being paranoid or overactive: account takeover is a real crime and the people who run these services expect reports and have teams who handle them.
Sources
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (2026). Mobile devices.
- Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Account or identity takeover scams.
