Is a QR code dating shirt safe?
Updated
It can be, if the QR code opens a page you control instead of showing your number. On our shirts the code opens a mini profile with only what you choose to share; your number isn’t on that page until someone taps Text me, and you can switch the page to Taken or Paused whenever you want. A printed phone number is different: it’s permanent, and anyone who sees the shirt or a photo of it can text you.
What someone sees when they scan it
The code opens your scan page on our site, in the phone’s browser: nothing to install, no account. While your page is set to Single, it shows:
- Your first name, and your age (18 or over) if you add it.
- One line about you, if you write one.
- Your DateCard’s first photo if you link one; otherwise, your first initial.
- The ways to reach you that you picked, as buttons: Text me first, then your DateCard, Instagram and TikTok.
- A note asking people to say hi kindly, tips for meeting up safely, and a line saying we don’t run background checks.
- Links to report the shirt and to get one of your own, naming shop.date-card.app.
Your number isn’t in the page. It’s fetched only when someone taps Text me, so it isn’t sitting there for a scraper to copy, and scan pages tell search engines not to list them. The page won’t take a phone number, link, email or street address in your name or line.
Taken swaps your profile for a short note that you’re taken, with your first name. Paused shows a neutral “This shirt is resting.” page with no name and no way to reach you. How it works walks through the rest.
QR code, printed number or handle?
Whoever makes your shirt, ask: can you change what the code opens after it’s printed, can you switch it off, and who sees your number? A code that points straight at your number or a profile is fixed once it’s printed. Ours opens a page on our site, so you can change it or switch it off; the trade-off is that it needs our site to keep working.
| Option | Can you change it? | Can you switch it off? | Shows your number? | Risk in photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QR code to your scan page | Yes, any time, from your manage link | Yes: Paused works at once | Only to people who tap Text me, while it’s on | Lower: a photo still scans, but it opens a page you control |
| Printed phone number | No | No | Yes, to anyone who reads it | High: anyone who sees a photo can text you, for as long as it’s around |
| QR code and printed number | The page, yes; the number, no | The page, yes; the number, no | Yes | High, as with a printed number |
| Printed social handle | No | Not on the shirt; the app’s privacy settings still apply | No | Medium: anyone can look you up and message you, if your settings allow |
That’s why the QR code is the default. If you print a number anyway, the designer warns you it’s permanent and has you type it twice, and we check it’s yours before it prints. Questions about the code itself, like scanning distance and washing, are in the FAQ.
What we don’t collect
We keep as little as possible about you and about whoever scans you.
- Scan stats are one count per code per day: no IP address, device, location or time of day.
- No cookies, ad pixels, analytics scripts or session recording, anywhere on the site.
- Our server sees a visitor’s IP address while it answers, as every site’s does; we use it only to limit abuse, and never store the address itself.
The privacy policy lists everything we keep, and for how long.
The controls you have
Your private manage link, on your order page, opens your controls. Anyone with it can change your page, so keep it like a password.
- Edit your page any time: name, age, line and buttons. The print stays the same.
- Single, Taken or Paused. Each works the moment you tap it.
- Text me on or off, or remove the number, whenever you like. Before the button goes live, we check by hand that the number is yours, and it turns on once we approve your order. Changing it later isn’t possible from the manage link yet: email hello@date-card.app and we’ll help.
- Scan counts per day, and nothing else.
- A new manage link if yours gets out; the old one stops working everywhere.
If your number ever ends up on a shirt without your consent, say so on the report form and we’ll block it: a blocked number can’t go on any shirt we print, and it comes off every scan page.
What to leave off your shirt and scan page
Your shirt and your scan page are public. Keep both to things that help someone say hi, not things that help someone find you:
- Your last name. A first name is plenty.
- Where you work, or the gym you go to every day.
- Your schedule or usual route, like “Sundays at 7, lake loop”.
- Your neighborhood, street or building.
- In a linked DateCard’s photos: house numbers, street signs, license plates or work badges.
A prompt like “My Sunday route” is an invitation: answer with the feel of it (“hills first, tacos after”), not where you start or when. For what to put on instead, see what to put on a dating shirt.
Meeting someone safely
Profiles can be fake, and we don’t run background checks on wearers or on the people who scan them. Treat a first meeting like any meeting with someone new:
- Meet somewhere busy and public. A group run, or coffee after one, is an easy first meeting.
- Tell a friend where you’re going and who you’re meeting.
- Get there and home on your own, and keep your address to yourself until you know them.
- Trust your gut. If something feels off, leave.
Saying hi to a wearer? Once is enough. A short answer or no answer means let it go, and never turn up at their usual time or place to try again. More in our safety tips and the run club guide.
Is it safe to scan someone’s QR code?
Yes, if you check where it goes. Scanning a code is like tapping a link, and the FTC’s advice is to look at the web address before you open it (FTC consumer alert, December 2023). Your camera shows it first: on our shirts it’s always shop.date-card.app, then /q/ and six characters, and the small SHOP.DATE-CARD.APP line printed on the shirt helps you check. Some wearers pay to leave that line off, but their code still opens shop.date-card.app. If it shows any other address, don’t open it.
Scanning installs nothing, signs you up for nothing and never asks you to pay or log in, and the wearer sees a count, not who you are. Tapping is different: Text me starts a text from your own phone, so they’ll see your number if you send it.
If something goes wrong
If anyone is in danger, call 911 first. We can’t respond at emergency speed.
Otherwise, use the report form or the “Report this shirt” link on every shirt’s scan page. You don’t need an account, your email is optional, and the wearer is never told who reported them. A person reads every report within 24 hours, and reports about someone under 18 come first: they usually switch the code off at once while we look.
If a shirt breaks our rules, we switch its code off, block its number from future shirts and cancel any order that hasn’t shipped; one that has already shipped can’t be recalled.
Wearing one and getting attention you don’t want? Switch to Paused, turn Text me off, block the person on your phone, and report it.
Questions
Can I turn my QR code off?
Yes: set your page to Paused from your manage link and it works at once, with nothing about you on the page. You can’t delete the code yourself, but email hello@date-card.app and we can switch it off for you.
Can someone find my location from a scan?
Not from the scan. Your page shows no address or location, and we don’t record where anyone scans from. What can give you away is what you share, like a route or a neighborhood, or wearing the shirt at the same place and time every week.
Do you see who scanned my shirt?
No, and neither do you. We keep one count per code per day, with no IP address, device, location or time.
Is it safe to put my phone number on a shirt?
It’s the riskiest option: a printed number is permanent, and anyone who sees the shirt or a photo of it can text you, or look the number up on people-search sites that can tie it to a name and address. If you print one, use a second number from a calling and texting app, and ask your carrier for a port-out PIN or number lock.
Do you run background checks?
No. SINGLE FILE RUN CLUB DOES NOT CONDUCT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS ON THE PEOPLE WHO BUY OR WEAR ITS SHIRTS, OR ON ANYONE WHO CONTACTS THEM THROUGH A SCAN PAGE.
Treat everyone you meet through a shirt as someone new, and read our safety tips before you meet.
Make yours
Pick a shirt and a design, choose what people see when they scan it, and see the price as you go.