Protecting Your Privacy Help Topics
- My location: can someone use Swirl to find out where I am?
- Harassment: what can I do if someone keeps sending me unsolicited messages?
- Minors: how are minors protected?
My location: can someone use Swirl to find out where I am?
Only your friends can find out where you are, and you need to explicitly grant permission to Swirl members in order for them to be added as friends. Swirl is unlike a social networking site in that with Swirl, you want to maintain a small list of your close friends, rather than a lengthy list of long-distance acquaintances.
There are other opportunities for non-friends to see where you are, e.g. if someone checks into a placemark you're also visiting, they will see your username as a current visitor. But no one is able to "track" you.
Harassment: what can I do if someone keeps sending me unsolicited messages?
The first thing you should do is block them. Open their profile (either search for them, or just click their username is a message they've sent), and select the "Block" option. This will prevent any messages from being delivered to your inbox. If you feel that someone is abusing Swirl to harass you in any way, please let us know immediately.
Minors: how are minors protected?
Users under the age of 15 are not permitted to use Swirl. Members between the ages of 15 and 18 can use Swirl, but must set a security password, and can only be connected to other members under 18. The security word helps ensure that only real-life friends of a minor can be added to a friend list. And for goodness sakes, if you are a minor, don't give out your security word to strangers or adults that you don't know well!