If you have to be discreet about your quest for a hookup, you're probably going to put a lot of weight on a service that can protect your privacy and anonymity.
But in their quest to eliminate bots, spammers, and self-promoters, many modern dating apps have implemented verification technologies that make it harder to remain anonymous while you swipe left and right. That's where AdultFriendFinder and Pure come in. These two dating services, the first a website and the second an app, still allow their users a reasonable amount of anonymity while they search for like-minded singles.
Here's how AFF and Pure compare in their privacy features and the extent to which users can maintain their anonymity while using these services.
Signup requirements
When it comes to privacy concerns, the signup process is extremely significant, because it's the earliest stage at which a dating app or website can start collecting data from you. If privacy and anonymity are top concerns for you, it stands to reason that the less you have to divulge, the less you have to worry about.
Both AdultFriendFinder and Pure allow faster sign-ins using either a Google account (AFF) or a Google, Facebook, or Apple account (Pure). If you're really concerned about privacy, the smart play here is to create a separate "burner" email account and use it during the sign-up process.
For both services, the mandatory minimum data you must provide is very similar and is essential to ensuring your experience caters to your needs: date of birth (age), location, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Of course, any photos you upload or additional information you provide will also be stored on their servers.
The one big difference between the two services is that, because Pure is an app and because it can access your phone's geolocation features, it can track you in real-time, either while you use the app or while you have it installed, depending on your phone's permission settings. While your exact location will never be disclosed to other Pure users, the app will know it, and other users will have a general idea of your proximity, but neither of these things should impose too much on your anonymity, especially if you live in a metropolitan area.
Winner: Tie
Photo requirements
The next privacy concern comes from mandatory photo sharing. Both AFF and Pure require you to upload photos to your profile, but neither site forces you to show your face, so users who want to remain anonymous on both sites will often upload shots from the neck down or wear a hat and sunglasses to partially disguise their faces.
The major difference here is that AFF allows nudity, including full-frontal nudity, while even suggested nudity on Pure can result in a temporary account ban. From a strictly privacy perspective, the less you share, the better, especially because if your anonymity is ever blown, the consequences would be worse if naked photos of you were part of the exposure, but sharing these is optional.
It should also be noted that both AFF and Pure offer optional photo verification, which involves sharing photos of your face, but AFF requires you to upload a government-issued ID, while Pure uses an AI-based verification system to match your photos to a live video of you taken from your phone's front-facing camera. From a privacy perspective, we prefer Pure's setup, but because this process is optional on both services, we're not prepared to give either service the edge in the photo requirements department.
Winner: Tie
Messaging and communication
If you're really privacy-minded, good news: Pure automatically deletes all chat communications between you and the person or people you're speaking to within 24 hours, unless both parties to the chat agree to turn off the timer. That same self-destruct feature applies to any media you send as well, so both photos and videos are erased within 24 hours. Additionally, you always have the option to manually Clear History or Leave Chat, both of which will instantly delete your chat history for both you and your speaking partner.
AdultFriendFinder is somewhat more complicated, as it offers both a one-on-one messaging platform like a standard dating site and forums, chat rooms, and live webcam feeds, so your security here is heavily dependent on how you use the site.
One major difference between the two services is that if you delete your account on AFF, your entire chat history is still stored on the servers and remains visible to the people you were chatting with, whereas Pure deletes the chat history for both parties. Because of this, and its self-destructing messaging, we give the edge to the app.
Winner: Pure
Premium account security
Privacy concerns heighten anytime you have to pay for something online, as not only are you at risk of being defrauded, but your personal information is often inextricably linked to your payment method. Worse still, both AFF and Pure really require premium accounts to get the most of these services, so you should expect to upgrade from the free account sooner rather than later.
Because Pure exists strictly in app form, however, you can only pay for the upgraded membership through your Google or Apple account, using whatever payment methods (debit or credit card) you have linked to your mobile device account. AdultFriendFinder, on the other hand, offers an expansive list of payment methods, including the usual (debit and credit cards) as well as money orders, gift cards, AirTM, and even SMS billing for UK residents.
When it comes to protecting your privacy, paying with more anonymous options, such as gift cards, helps create an extra layer between your online activities and your data, compared to using your Google or Apple account. We give AFF the edge in this category.
Winner: AdultFriendFinder