...I am curious how many people out there have the time, the money, and the resources to participate in this hobby but just cannot get over the hump of sending their personal info over the internet?

I see the screening forms and as soon as i see "please type in your address or employer", I freeze.

And,  I am not blaming anyone or saying I know a way out of this box.  I understand both sides of this arguement.  I just cant get over the notion that anything you send over the internet never vanishes and I think of Eliot Spitzer who got swept up not by his provider but because the electronic record was able to be searched when his provided was investigated.

Just curious if there are others out there who feel paralyzed ?  on both sides.

Call her
Check her site first, but Many providers screen on phone and/or
You can also join pre411 or another screening site to help out some .

I prefer he just say so, and we can go from there via email or on the phone if it makes him more comfortable. The only thing I require on a form is really your board handle, email, cell, etc. Nothing personal should ever be filled out until you know I am even able to see you. I think many make that mistake of not having some form of correspondence with a guy, before he does all of this. A lot of men like you said, "freeze" and just pass her right over if they think she needs all of their info. just to return an email.

Many guys simply refuse to put any personal info on providers' websites.  You can avoid this by joining one or more of the 3 big verification sites, Datecheck, Preferred411, and Roomservice2000.  I do know that P411 has a toll-free number you can call, and Gina will work with you to verify you.  P411 also lets providers indicate if they are newbie friendly which is good for guys like you.  Their servers are not in the US, which is a big plus, don't think the others are either, but not sure.

Once you see some providers on whatever site you join, ask them to give you a site reference.  Review them here if they will let you and ask for a whitelist reference.  Once you have some references, life gets much easier.

Swim

While I realize that sites like P, R2, T and others do their best to help you keep your info private - you do need to realize that any phone number, credit card or name that you use can be found very easily. Many in this line of fun are attached to other people (be that family, SO, etc) and the concern you should have is not the providers themselves rather, it's the internet. Whenever you use any information and pass it over the internet it is susceptible to being aggregated within several different "engines" that can return your information. This is regardless of overseas or within the U.S. All data transmitted over the internet is subject to this and you should take the requisite precautions. There are various ways to "cloud" your activities (The Onion Router being just one), but you do need to realize it can be recovered or realized with a minimum of effort. There are multiple "apps" that someone can apply to your cell phone without your knowledge, there are legal means with which this data can be recovered and there are many websites that provide any person with the knowledge to recover or, discover, information with the slightest of information about you.
None of this is meant to be a a scary story, it's meant to cause you to do a little research, do a little digging and determine what the right path is for you in your endeavors. The internet can be your friend or it can be your enemy - you have to make that decision.
I would tell you that most provider's web sites are NOT secured, do NOT use encryption and, as much as they do protect your privacy; they can't because they're sites are NOT protected to begin with.

It's .02 cents, what can it hurt?

JC

In this internet age one is never safe.  However, the flip side of this is that any evidence collected on the internet is not reliable.  You could have gone to a site, accidentally, someone could have pretended to be you as a joke, etc...Ultimately, as long as you do not say anything explicit, you are in fairly good shape.  The key is that there is no reward without risk so never totally let your guard down.  Use your intuition.

messages automatically? Forms may not, but my understanding is that email is a little safer because it is generally encrypted. It's not 100%safe (nothing is), but it avoids casual scrutiny, no?

Generally the "encryption" that they use is on their servers and not the email itself. Almost all email, with some exceptions, are unencrypted. The origin and recipient ends of the email are not. A quick google search will provide you with some options for encrypted email services.

JC

Additional specialized software is required to read and write encrypted email.

That's good to know. Wow... so how easy is it for someone to read your emails?

Anyone use hushmail?