5 Tips You Never Thought of for Dating Safety

It's the internet age. Whether you meet someone through an online dating website or while running your most recent 5k, there are dating safety considerations that you likely haven't considered. It's pretty easy to find anyone these days, given the infinite possibilities the internet extends. However - do you really want just anyone to be able to find you?

We sat down and compiled the top five dating safety tips that you probably haven't even thought about. Ten years ago, these things weren't even an issue. Today is an entirely different dating ballgame!

Geolocation: Do you use cool smart phone apps like Four Square or Brightkite? They're tons of fun to help you explore new places and share information with friends and others in your local area. However - they all use geolocation. They pinpoint you at an exact place, at an exact time. Applications like Four Square also share ALL of your contact information (phone number and email address included) with anyone you accept as a "friend." So think twice before accepting friend requests and think about where you check in. Try not to check in at locations too close to your home and consider when it's OK to share your location with the world. Sometimes people just don't need to know.

Facebook: It's huge. Everyone seems to be everyone's friend these days. But do you actually KNOW the people you're adding to your friends roster? My advice is that you should. Facebook personal profiles are for friends, family and acquaintances. If you run a business, create a Facebook Fan Page and connect with colleagues, customers and other business connections on there. And here's a word of caution for dating: wait a bit before connecting with people you're dating on applications like Facebook. They'll have access to all of your friends, photos and daily life comments. Make them earn access to your inner sanctum. Keep your personal life personal. Also, check all of your uploaded photos for things like shots of your home or license plate. These are things that sneak into our photos without us even realizing it and are prime fuel for anyone dead-set on finding us (even when we don't want to be found).

Blogs: In today's online age, tons of people have personal or business blogs. If you're one of those people, those outlets are easy ways for people to find you. If you use WordPress, you have the ability to block a user's IP address from accessing your site if you're being harassed (thank you, WordPress!). Other blogging software offers the same capability. If you have a blog or other online presence, don't post your email address. Use a contact form or mask your email address using a website like this email address encoder. Don't list your phone number on a personal blog or website. If people want to get hold of you, there's nothing that can't wait until you respond to an email. And if they have a legitimate reason for contacting you, they'll understand your privacy and pursuit of safe online practices.

Personal Profiles: Online dating sites, blogs, social networking profiles like Facebook and MySpace...there are tons of places online for you to tell people who you are and what you like. But how much information is too much? If you're a prominent blogger or media professional, you have to let people know who you are any why you're a credible source. Establishing a personality may be key to your livelihood. But you can still play it safe and not give away the milk for free. Never give your address - a city and state is fine. Consider carefully posting the names of children and/or their pictures. Unless your online presence has something to do with your employer, don't share where you work (employers hate stalkers!). There are ways to be who you are and in all its glory without letting a date-gone-bad (or even a date gone great) do more digging and discover information about you that you didn't even know you were making available. If you go to school (even college), don't post your school name - your major and graduation year are fine. In fact, leave off the graduation year if you like as it speaks to age (another identifying factor). Think before you post - that's the theme here. Just because everything is available over the internet doesn't mean you have to make it so easy to find.

Business Addresses: Do you work for yourself and enjoy the bliss of making your own hours and working in bunny slippers? Then it's likely you have a business address: your home. If you went the formal route of establishing a business entity, then your home address is listed on your corporate formation paperwork with the Secretary of State's office in your state. This information is public record. Consider heavily whether you want to obtain a "virtual" business address from a respected source. Many outlets like Mailboxes, Etc. offer street addresses for a modest annual fee. You can also do a web search for "virtual business address" and compare listing prices. Since P.O. boxes aren't allowed for business addresses, virtual addresses are a safer route than listing your actual home address. After all - you love working for yourself and it's a topic that comes up on first dates everywhere: what do you do for a living? No reason to make it so easy for your date to track you down in public records.

Here's the bottom line for dating safety in the digital age: if you post something online, people can find it. Social networking and online dating sites are great fun, but understand what new applications make public information before you go all gung-ho. It's your safety at hand, and start thinking iSafe instead of iPhone!