How we help protect your safety

Control what you share

Photos are optional

You can post and match without uploading a photo. A display name lets you introduce yourself without putting your full legal name in your request. If you choose a picture, it is visible with your public request, so choose one you are comfortable sharing. Avoid documents, home details and other people’s faces without their permission. Other visitors may save or screenshot public content.

Small and medium photo previews remain public. To open a full-size picture, a visitor must have a live request with a photo of their own. This access rule does not make previews private or verify who uploaded a picture. File checks and resizing validate the image format and size; they do not inspect its meaning or confirm the person pictured.

Choose company you feel comfortable around

The “Looking for” gender preference supports comfort and personal safety when choosing platonic company. For example, you may want a female wingwoman, a male wingman or a nonbinary companion. Matching checks both people’s preferences: one person’s choice does not override the other’s. Gender is self-reported, so preferences cannot verify who someone is.

“Prefer not to say” lets you decline to disclose your gender. You can still choose your own preference; the other person must select “Anyone” for their preference to include an undisclosed gender. These settings govern matching, not who can view your public request.

Phone exchange is optional and mutual

You do not need to exchange phone numbers to arrange a wingmatch. The final exchange reveals numbers only when both people have provided one. Number validation checks format and plausibility, not ownership or identity. Once shared, a number cannot be taken back from someone who has copied it.

Your plan and meeting spot are public. Keep your home address, workplace routine and private contact details out of the plan. Drafts and some recovery details are saved in your browser; take care on shared devices. See the Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab) for what is shared, stored and retained.

Screening and its limits

Wingman uses automatic text rules to help keep requests platonic. The rules check display names, plans, meeting addresses, recognition details and phone fields for recognized dating, romantic, marriage-related, sexual and drug-related content, as well as specified emoji. Checks also apply when requests are updated or reopened for a wingfam. The server checks submissions even if a browser check is bypassed.

This is a text filter, not a human review or an assessment of someone’s intentions. It can miss harmful content or block innocent wording, and it does not understand every language, inspect photo content or detect every threat or scam. Passing the filter is not a safety endorsement. Use the reporting options below when something is wrong.

Screened meeting spots

Wingman checks selected meeting coordinates against map data before allowing a request to be posted or its meeting spot updated. Points classified as unsuitable are rejected. A provider failure or an unconfirmed location is not treated as approval; a still-valid cached result may be reused for up to 24 hours. Server approvals and denials are tied to exact coordinates; reusable nearby map geometry is classified again for the new point. Provider errors are not saved as suitability decisions.

The current rules allow mapped public-facing venues, including eligible businesses and some community venues such as libraries, as well as eligible mapped commercial or retail areas. They are not limited exclusively to named businesses. The nearby-business picker helps you choose a recognizable venue, and “Use my location” prepares a nearby business for you to select instead of automatically publishing your device position.

Checks reject mapped residential buildings, private or prohibited access, recognized adult-entertainment venues and other unsuitable classifications, such as water or military land. Business and address searches also filter recognized adult venues. An arbitrary pin or typed address does not bypass the posting checks. Reopening a finalized request for a wingfam requires confirmation and screening of the meeting spot again; the reopened wingfam’s address is then locked. These checks do not verify anyone’s physical location.

A suitable map classification does not mean a place is open, staffed, accessible or safe right now. Map boundaries, names and categories can be wrong or out of date, and unmapped hazards can be missed. Check the actual venue and surroundings. Prefer a busy, staffed public business, and choose somewhere else if conditions feel wrong.

A match needs mutual agreement

An invitation is only the start. Both people accept the wingmatch, agree on an available meeting spot and confirm readiness. Meeting choices respect the participants’ travel radii. Changes to the location or recognition details reset readiness so an older confirmation cannot silently approve the changed plan. The server also rejects finalization based on an outdated plan revision. Optional phone exchange has its own update control after finalization.

You can decline an invitation, cancel a match or withdraw your request using the available controls. You can also leave a meeting at any time. Agreeing to meet, sharing a number or arriving together never creates an obligation to stay, accept physical contact or agree to anything else. Respect a refusal and a change of mind.

Multiple ways to find one another

You can coordinate without requiring a public photo or a phone number. During a wingmatch, choose the recognition option that feels comfortable:

• A written description: share a simple detail, such as a jacket colour, to help your partner recognize you. Written recognition details appear in the confirmed exchange rather than the public request.
• “I’ll find you”: choose to identify your partner yourself. If both people choose this, Wingman asks one to pick another option before finalizing, so you do not both wait for the other to approach.
• “Meet outside the front door”: available when the agreed point is recognized as a named business. Wingman checks this when the option is saved and at finalization. Confirm the entrance and stay in a visible public area; the label does not verify opening hours or the surroundings.

The confirmed address, map and map-app link help you get to the agreed place. They are navigation aids, not proof that the other person is there or a guarantee of accurate positioning.

Understanding activity indicators

Request age shows how long the request has existed. Last check-in reflects the server’s latest availability renewal, with warnings as expiry approaches. Last browser activity shows the latest reported interaction with the Wingman page, such as pointer, touch, keyboard or user-driven scroll activity.

These answer different questions. An unattended page may still check in, reported activity can be delayed, and neither signal verifies someone’s identity, location, attention or intentions. “Not observed” means there is no usable activity report. Availability normally expires after 90 seconds without renewal, but browser suspension and delayed updates can affect what you see. Expiry is not a promise that every stored or copied detail has been deleted.

Temporary plans and notifications

The final plan can be saved in your browser for short-term recovery, including recognition details and any exchanged number. That recovery copy can be used for 90 seconds after its last save, and the time can renew while the final screen remains open. A restored copy is not proof that the other person is still available. Expired data can remain on a closed device until the app next reads it; withdrawing or closing a match cannot recall someone else’s copy.

Sounds and haptics are optional, and the current app cannot promise match notifications while it is closed or suspended. Do not rely on a silent device as confirmation that nothing changed. Check the current plan and connection status before setting off; agree on another way to coordinate if needed.

How to stay safe

• Meet somewhere busy and public. Check that the venue is open and staffed. Avoid homes, isolated entrances and unexpected moves to private places.
• Tell someone you trust. Share the place, time and who you expect to meet. Arrange a check-in and a way to ask for help.
• Keep control of your journey. Arrange your own travel home and keep your phone charged. Have a backup exit plan.
• Share gradually. Keep sensitive details private. Do not send money or financial information to someone you have just met.
• Keep your boundaries. Pause, cancel or leave if you feel pressured or uncomfortable. You do not owe anyone a meeting or an explanation.
• Look out for each other. Respect refusals, ask before taking or sharing photos, and seek help from staff or someone you trust when needed.

These steps may reduce risk; responsibility for abuse always lies with the person who causes it. For more guidance, see RAINN’s tips for safer online and in-person meetings (opens in a new tab). Although written for dating, many precautions also apply when meeting a new platonic companion.

Report a concern

Any visitor can use a visible request photo’s “Photo options” menu and the red X beside “This photo violates someone’s rights, copyright, or laws.” This submits an immediate removal action through Wingman, without an account or uploader approval. It removes the photo from service after success, not the request itself, and cannot erase screenshots or other copies. Use it in good faith.

For harassment, suspected underage use, impersonation, privacy concerns or a failed removal, use Report a concern (opens in a new tab). The page explains how to contact the operator and what information helps. Reporting is not an emergency response service or a promise of immediate human review.

If you are in immediate danger, contact local emergency services and seek a safer place or help from nearby staff. Do not wait for a Wingman response.

Read How Wingman works (opens in a new tab) for the detailed behaviour behind these safeguards, and the Terms of Service (opens in a new tab) for conduct rules.