From a provider standpoint, I have found RS2K to be very resourceful.....When I run a clients information through they are able to tell me how long he's been a member and also anything else negative that may have happened.....ie...."abused a provider in 05/09" or something like "shorted a  provider in 12/09"......

Most importantly, I DON'T use RS2K as my only screening tool for a client because I've found lately that LE is signed up through there.....This is why I screen hard and use various other sources also.......

Hope this helps you darling!

Kisses, Licks, & Squirts,
Foxxxie

Interesting! So in your previous experience, what have been the screening standards used by providers you've been seeing?

I like the feedback on this thread thus far. I am also a fairly new hobbyist and have been thinking of joining RS2K. Not sure I want this info for others to see you know with the SO and all I have also run into a few providers who want RS2K info and I can not provide. Since I have no real referrals I'm missing out sometime.

My thoughts on using RS2K originally were, which has the greater risk?  
1) you give your name, some info, maybe work info to provider A, B and C...all of which are doing something illegal and can be busted for it.  Maybe provider B gets busted and has kept some info.  At the least she knows your name, phone and maybe city or work info.  She can trade it in possibly for some deal with LE.  Her list of info might net them 20-50 people who she can directly testify to having been involved in illegal activity with.

2) you give your name, lots of info and $50 to RS2K.  They verify you and create a file that says you are 'OK'.  Supposedly the additional info is dumped after verification and only the Name, City and phone are kept.  RS2K does not directly involve themselves in illegal activity as they are not an agency, and no one there provides(as far as I've ever heard at least), so if for some reason they are infiltrated, it wouldn't be to bust THEM, it would be to bust particular johns or providers by impersonating valid ones and setting up visits. If they impersonate a provider, they will get your name, city and number during verification.  You can only get busted at the call (which will happen anyway if you get yourself in a sitution where you are in a hotel room with a cop or turned provider).  If you don't go to the call, they have nothing other than your name, city and number.  Even if RS2K were to get busted, if they do dump the extra info, they should only end up getting your name, city and phone#.  Also the list that would get turned over of clients would be for verification purposes only...nothing illegal there. I guess if your name is Melvin Johinewitz or something kind of rare, you might stick out, but if it's John Smith or Bob Johnson, your wife could read the report in the paper and would probably just chuckle about how you got 'busted'.

3) you go to a provider that does no screening.  Have a fun time being jumped by her pimp or going to jail because you are stupid for even being in the room with her.  Sure you might get away with it 1 or 2 times, but the odds are not in your favor.  Providers who do not screen strike me as people who have 'nothing to lose' and that either means they don't plan on being honest or don't care what happens to them.  Good luck if you feel this is a fine place to be in.

Now I'm not trying to shill for RS2K, only giving you my thought process I had when I decided to take the plunge.  I've used them to set up all but 1 of my visits (not including the asians...they screen altogether differently).  And never felt nervous about it.

SMEGMA!!

That's where my thought process starts. I don't give up my real name or job or address or city or anything else that's private. Agencies get busted all the time so that's the last place I want any info linking me to the hobby. RS2K is not an agency in that sense but it's still a place that LE is well aware of and could get a warrant to search if desired. LE has indirectly used RS2K to bust providers and hobbyists as we all know.

Weigh the benefits and the risks. Do you allow online stores to keep your credit card info on file? I'd say keeping your real personal info at a service such as RS2K carries a similar risk to saving your CC info in an online store. The chance of your info getting compromised is low but what would the impact be on your life if it became public that you were in the hobby? if you're not married and have no family, you probably don't care much. Being busted is a slap on the wrist compared to being outted. What would your employer say and/or do if they found out? What would your family and friends think?

Life is about risk management, the more risk you take, the more fun you have in life. RS2K membership opens up the possibility of meeting many providers you wouldn't be able to see otherwise. It gives you the opportunity to attend the VIP M&Gs. The price for that access is a small but real risk of being compromised. Giving your real name to a provider for screening carries that risk as well. Many providers and some agencies don't require personal private information to screen, they use your references and word of mouth to find out if you're safe. Getting started is harder without RS2K but I did it and it has worked well for me. Sure, I can't go to the VIP parties and I've ruled out many desirable providers to maintain my privacy. That is my choice and I'm fine with it.

My concern is not LE infiltrating RS2K.  My concern is that after I give my info to a provider and she verifies me through RS2K, then what does she do with it?  I always ask the provider to delete all info after the verification is complete, but don't have any way of knowing if it was really done.  Someone else being careless down the road could lead to my info being compromised.

I joined RS2k for all the benefits noted by others but the exact issue you raised, the disclosure of real name and city, does concern me. I'm not a member of datecheck or P411 but don't they use member name or "handle" only when providing a verification or referral to a provider?