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You may already be selective about what information you share about yourself to strangers on the internet, but this recent The New York Times article reveals that your privacy may be infringed upon in another way: Some apps are selling users’ data—such as location, ethnicity, sexuality, and more—to advertising and marketing companies. While this type of use of your information may not have a direct effect on your dating life, it’s still something you probably want to be aware of when determining what online dating service you want to sign up for.

While you should strive to represent yourself truthfully in your profile, you should withhold any private contact information until you’ve determined the trustworthiness of your date. In addition, instead of revealing private information online, Dr. Winnifred Cutler suggests that you meet people in-person as soon as possible to ensure that there’s attraction and body chemistry. It’s also a good idea to arrange group meetings to meet more than one person at once (learn how with Searching for Courtship). This way, you can efficiently identify those who are attracted to you, and to whom you respond, without spending an entire evening on just one person. Another benefit of this dating strategy is that as soon as you meet a good potential partner, you can cancel those dating profiles that are using your private information to increase the targeted ads you see online.

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