Dating Advice

Guarding the Safety of Your Personal Information While Dating

Although you have to give up some privacy when you are dating, there is
definitely some information that you shouldn’t disclose. Information that you will want to
protect include your financial affairs. That means credit card, bank and investment
account numbers, ATM cards, PINs, User ID and passwords. This includes those that are
used to access information online.
Everyone is very reluctant and never, ever reveals salary information. You should
regard your financial information in a similar manner. Revealing details about your
personal financial information can leave you vulnerable to identity theft, unauthorized
withdrawal from your accounts or use of your credit card.
Stories are told of how crooks spy on unsuspecting individuals conducting
transactions at ATMS, see their PIN and then are able to make withdrawals. Imagine then
how eash it could be if you pass on the information firsthand to a dishonest person.
Again, you have to remember that you are dating someone who you aren’t familiar with.
And though you want to trust and hope that your date is trustworthy, you don’t know and
you’ll only be able to find out with the passing of time. Even then, there’s no reason to
pass on confidential financial information to someone who isn’t your spouse, a close
relative, or next of kin.
Other personal information that you shouldn’t disclose includes your mother’s
maiden name, which is often used as a security feature. You should also seek to keep
personal space and maintain some boundaries with your new date. You therefore
shouldn’t give extra copies of keys to your car or home to your date until you are sure he
or she is completely trustworthy.
Even if your date is offended by your wanting to keep some things private, you
shouldn’t relent. You likely won’t be seeking similar private information from your date
and you can point that out.
It’s also a good idea to not reveal your full daily routine to someone you don’t
know much about and whom you are dating. You should actually be suspicious if your
date wants to know what you are doing 24/7. Even if your date doesn’t have any
unscrupulous plans up their sleeve, it could mean that he or she may be jealous or
possessive. Those qualities, if they exist in your date, aren’t ones that will facilitate the
development of a close and trusting bond.
Guarding your personal information also means you should be careful about
letting your new date into your home or apartment at the very early stages of dating.
Having someone come to your home is letting them into your private space. When that is
done, it means that a certain level of familiarity has been reached.
In monitoring your personal safety, you in turn should also be wary of a date who
won’t give you certain basic information, or is evasive abut revealing information such as
their home ? where he or she lives and if the person is constantly changing their phone
number. It could indicate that your date is hiding negative information. If you have a
queasy feeling, if your instincts or guts tell you that something isn’t right about your date
– about your date’s actions and the questions asked ? then you should listen and follow
your instinct or gut feelings.
While you will always have hope and be full of anticipation about the new person
you are dating, you also have to remember to always exercise caution because your
personal safety is of the utmost importance. If aspects of your safety goes away, for
example through identity theft, it is very difficult to untangle and to regain what you
would have lost. And even after you do untangle it, you will never quite feel the same
sense of safety and security again.

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