Three audiences, three different decisions
- A person browsing your profile
- Give them something to respond to without a map of your routine. The profile privacy guide covers photos, recognizable work details and the choice to mention HSV publicly.
- A match you are getting to know
- Decide what you trust this person to keep private. You can share more as the conversation becomes relevant without providing passwords, documents or someone else’s family information.
- A friend helping you check in
- Share the meeting location, expected finish and the information needed for your safety plan. That does not require sharing your date’s diagnosis or forwarding an intimate conversation.
Receiving a disclosure gives you information, not ownership
Ask before discussing a date’s health with a mutual acquaintance or sending a screenshot. Even a message shared “without the name” may identify someone through their job, photos, location or circumstances. If you need health information, ask a clinician a general question without adding identifying details that are not needed.
Make a privacy request plain
“I’m comfortable talking about this with you. Please do not forward the conversation or discuss my health with people who know me.”
A request cannot guarantee confidentiality, but the response tells you something about whether this person respects the boundary. If they dismiss it, consider what you want to share next. Use the disclosure guide for the conversation itself.
If information becomes pressure
Stop sharing additional material to negotiate your way out of a threat. Keep relevant messages and dates, and use the service’s current reporting instructions. The safety guide covers the next steps when someone tries to turn access to your life into leverage.