Former detective warns against common dating app safety ‘issue’: ‘You have no idea how many lives this could save’
A former detective went viral on TikTok after sharing a dating app safety tip in response to a mom’s “phone hack” video for photos.
With the amount of private data our phones hold, dating app safety is crucial in this day and age. However, there is one app that many wouldn’t consider as harmful to their privacy — the photos app.
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TikTok user @persnicketybox posted the original “phone hack” video, in which she recalls her son texting her for permission to stay at a friend’s house until 11 p.m. Her son attached a picture of his friend playing basketball.
@persnicketybox then downloaded her son’s photo to her iPhone’s camera roll. She used the image to demonstrate her “phone hack,” emphasizing the menu below the picture.
“You download the photo onto your camera roll, and you click the little “I” [button] right there. That’s gonna give you information on what time the actual photo was taken, where it was taken, and even what camera was used,” she explains, scrolling through the photo’s metadata.
Furthermore, the Apple Support website states that users can track a photo or video’s exact location through the Maps app. “Now I know right where you’re at, son, and if you really took this photo at that very moment,” @persnicketybox said.
In response to @persnicketybox’s video, TikToker and former detective @purepower34 applied the parenting “phone hack” to a different scenario — online dating.
“If you’re online dating and you send photos to a stranger, you just sent them where you were. So if you were standing on your porch when you took the photo, that could be an issue,” @purepower34 explained.
However, if you still wish to share images with people you meet on dating apps, @purepower34 advised viewers to instead share screenshots of their original photos to avoid leaking their location and device information.
“A screenshot doesn’t have that information,” @purepower34 said. “Take a screenshot of the photo. Send the screenshot.”
TikTok users are thankful to learn about the former detective’s screenshot tip.
“You have no idea how many lives this could save. Thank you,” a TikToker said.
“This is a life lesson, too – for anyone who you haven’t invited to your house!” Another commented.
Other TikTokers took to the comments of @purepower34’s video to share extra online safety tips.
“You can also change your settings so that your camera doesn’t have location permission. That’s how I prefer mine,” someone commented.
“If you send [a photo] through social media, it [the app] strips the metadata,” another shared.
The post Former detective shares dating app safety tip: Why you should send only screenshots of your photos appeared first on In The Know.
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