DateableShould you use the same photos as your Instagram or LinkedIn?
No: reused photos expose your name and workplace when a match reverse searches them. Take fresh photos and run a reverse search on yours first.
No. Use photos that appear nowhere else on the internet. If you reuse a photo from Instagram, LinkedIn or anywhere public, someone on Dateable can reverse search it and find your real name, your workplace, your friend group, and your other social accounts from a single image.
How reverse image search works against you
Reverse image search is free and easy. You upload a photo to Google Images, TinEye, or another search engine, and it finds everywhere that image appears online. The process takes seconds. A scammer uses it to verify you are real or to find your offline identity. A careless match can do it just as easily, and so can someone with bad intentions.
If your photo appears on your Instagram profile with your name tagged, the reverse search shows that. If it is on your LinkedIn with your job title and company, the search shows that too. If a friend tagged you in a photo at a restaurant or at work, the location appears in the result. A reverse search will pull all of that up in one screen.
You have just handed someone your full name, your workplace, your job title, the names of your friends, and your regular hangouts. They now know where to find you in the real world.
I found her on Instagram with a reverse search, then looked up the company from her LinkedIn photo, and worked out which office she went to.
That sounds like the beginning of a scam or stalking. It is also why the advice from places like Scamwatch is to use a reverse image search to check someone else's photos, not to assume yours are safe 1. They are not.
Run a reverse search on your own photos first
Before you post a photo on Dateable, run a reverse image search on it yourself. Go to Google Images and use the camera icon to upload a photo from your phone or computer. If it appears anywhere else online, you will see it. If a previous match, friend or ex tagged you in a photo, or if you posted the same photo to another site, it will show up here.
Go through each result. If a photo is on your Instagram, your Facebook, or a friend's account, you need to decide whether to remove it or use a different photo for dating. Delete or crop the photo from those other places first. Once you do, the search result will disappear within a day or two as Google re-indexes.
Then it is safe to use on Dateable. Dateable photos are private by default: only the people you choose see them. Your photo does not appear in search results, it does not show up on Google Images, and it does not exist anywhere except in the accounts of people you sent it to.
Take a fresh set for dating
The simplest option is to take new photos that do not appear anywhere else on the internet. You do not need professional photos. Hire a photographer for an hour if you want, but a friend with a phone, natural light, and a cafe or park in the background works just as well. What matters is that the photo exists only on your dating profile and nowhere else.
If you do not have a friend available to take photos, or if you prefer not to ask, a mirror selfie works fine. A photo in your car works. A self-timed photo with your phone on a stand works. Take the time to get good lighting, wear something you like, and take several so you have choices. Delete the ones you do not use and do not post them anywhere.
The point is privacy, not perfection. A photo no one has seen before, and no one can find through reverse image search, is a photo that keeps your identity separate from your dating life. Post it only to Dateable, and you control who sees it and when.
Keep your social accounts set to private
Even if you follow all of this, keep your Instagram and other social accounts private. Set them so that only people you approve can follow you. Go to your settings and make sure your profile is not searchable or visible to people who are not your friends. This adds a layer of protection: even if someone does find your account through reverse search, they cannot see your photos, your friend list, or your location tags without your permission.
Check your tag settings too. Turn off the setting that allows people to tag you in photos, or at least review tags before they appear on your profile. If a friend posts a photo of you and tags you, it can show up in search results even if your main profile is private.
Do the same with your LinkedIn if it is currently public. A private profile means a reverse search finds your name, but not the confirmation that comes with seeing a photo of you in the office, or the company logo, or a list of everyone who works there with you.
Why this protects you
You are on Dateable because you chose to be there. A match should not find you anywhere else. If someone can use reverse image search to locate you offline, they have bypassed your control over who knows what about you.
This is why Dateable asks for fresh photos: so your dating profile stays separate from your everyday identity. When you choose your photos, make that choice deliberate. Use protection for your privacy as the standard, not a backup plan.
Sources
- Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Relationship scams.
