Free Online Dating - 4 Ways to Stay Safe

By Ingrid Margaret

In the past, many people have been concerned about the lack of safety in protecting yourself while meeting and interacting with people online. Actually, the problem has two dimensions. First, is personal safety. If you meet and date people as part of your free online dating plans,, you don't really know much about them to begin with, so if they have negative plans in mind, you may not know until it is too late. Second, safety in keeping sensitive information such as Social Security number, name address and phone number will prevent such problems as identity theft, robbery and theft from your accounts.

Screen Your Personal Information

Whether you are using a free online dating site or a paid site, you should be cautious about displaying personal or sensitive information on the internet. You don't want to reveal financial information at any place where a hacker can gain access. Since you don't have to enter credit cards or bank account data on a free site, you avoid danger from this choice. If you are prudent about where you post information and what you post, you shouldn't have a problem with safety or security issues.

Don't Get in a Hurry

When you use free online dating, you don't need to be concerned about rushing through the dating process in order to get hooked up with dates before the subscription period runs out. You are far better off to take your time getting to know the other individuals that you meet on the dating site. Part of the enjoyment of the dating process is getting to know the other person well so that you begin to form an opinion of whether or not you want to take the relationship to the next step. Not putting an end date on your dating experiences means you take away much of the stress and pressure.

Trust Your Instincts

It is likely that when your instincts are telling you that a particular individual is not the one for you, you should not try to force the relationship. Because the site is set up for free online dating, you still can avoid interacting with those who are not people that you want to meet. Don't allow your desire to forge some new relationships to short circuit your natural caution about exposing yourself to the wrong people accessing the internet.

Guard your Personal Access

Similar to the suggestion of screening your personal information is the suggestion that you need to guard against unlimited access to you via chat, email and telephone. Even if you never post personal and sensitive information on the internet, you can still be annoyed by unwanted contacts that can at times rise to the level of harassment and stalking. With free online dating, you don't need to worry about access levels. You should be able to exclude specific people or groups of peoples that you aren't interested in. After all, dating online or off should be something that is fun to do for its own sake.