18/03/2016
This is quite a long post, but definitely worth the read if you are considering online dating.
âData that is posted on the Internet should be regarded as permanent after 20 minutes, even if the originator has deleted the file,â says the former head of cybersecurity with Microsoft.. But just because the Internet can act as your permanent record doesnât mean your information is always accessible to you or that youâll have control over it, especially if it exists in other websitesâ online databases. In many cases you donât have control, and that can come back to haunt you.
Once an online dating service has your information, it has it for keeps. Even after you cancel your account (fall in love, get married, take a vow of celibacy, etc.), most dating sites retain your information. You may want to sign up again if a relationship doesnât work out. Online dating sites want to make the process as convenient as possible. However, this may have repercussions in the event of legal requests. Most dating sites, as stated in their privacy policies, will turn over your data if they get a court order, which will burden you with your own defense. Do you want your insurance company, a divorce lawyer, or a member of law enforcement to comb through your profile looking for signs of misrepresentation? Detailed profiles could be used against you in new and negative ways. These include medical- and employment-related lawsuits, as well as divorce and custody proceedings.
Personal photos are another cause for concern. The photos you upload are often stored in a "content delivery network," a collection of databases not owned by the dating service, but instead paid to provide fast content delivery and reliable up-time. This means that even if you delete a photo from the dating website, there remains a cache of photos maintained by another company that will not be deleted. This practice has a parallel in Facebook, which uses facial recognition software, and has created a digital face-recognition photo database. When your friends tag you in photos they have posted, your photo becomes part of that database, and the face recognition software can be used to identify you in other photos that have not been tagged. If you have provided risqué photos of yourself, you have no guarantee of confidentiality.
Information care of https://www.privacyrights.org/