Online dating safety guide

Before you start talking

• Keep your surname, workplace, home street and your children’s school off your profile. A first name and a city are enough.
• Use photos that are not on your other public accounts, so a reverse image search does not lead straight to them.
• HideShow shows only your city and a distance band, and removes location data from photos when you upload them.

While you are talking

Take your time. On HideShow faces arrive in stages as chemistry grows, which gives a conversation room before anyone is seen. Use it: someone worth meeting will still be there next week.

Signs of a romance scam

• They ask for money, a loan, gift cards or crypto, for any reason.
• An emergency appears: a hospital bill, a customs fee, a stranded ticket.
• They offer to teach you an investment that cannot lose.
• They push to move to another app within the first few messages.
• They are too perfect, too fast: declarations of love before you have spoken.
• They always have a reason not to video call.

HideShow checks conversations for common scam patterns. When a message looks like one, the person receiving it sees a warning with advice beside that message. The sender is not told.

Sharing photos and videos

Anything you show on a screen can be screenshotted, on any app. Share only what you would be comfortable with them keeping.

Private items on HideShow are shared with one named person at a time, only in a conversation at 100%, and you can take access back whenever you like. That controls who can open them; it cannot stop a screenshot.

Before you meet

• Have a video call first. It confirms they are who their photos say, and it is easy to end.
• Meet somewhere public and busy, and arrive and leave on your own.
• Tell a friend where you are going, who with, and when you will check in.
• Keep your drink with you, and leave whenever you want to. You do not owe anyone the rest of the evening.

If something goes wrong

• Block from the chat menu or their profile. They can no longer reach you.
• Report from the same menu: harassment, spam or scam, fake profile, inappropriate content, someone under 18, or intimate images shared without consent. Reports are read by people.
• A reported conversation is kept as evidence while the report is open, even if the other person deletes their account.
• Reports of someone under 18 or of intimate images shared without consent go to the front of the queue and alert a person straight away.

If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.

You can also write to us through the contact form or at support@hideshow.chat, with or without an account.

Questions

What should I do if someone asks me for money?

Do not send it, whatever the story. Stop replying and report the account with the reason Spam or scam. Nobody you have only met online needs your money to prove anything.

Can I report something without an account?

Yes. The contact form at hideshow.chat/contact works without signing in. Intimate images shared without consent can be reported there even if the person in them is not a member, and those reports go to the front of the queue.

Are video calls recorded?

No. Calls open only at 100% chemistry, travel directly between the two devices, and are never recorded.