Help Centre / Safety

Safety

CruiseCtrl is a space for adults to meet and connect on their own terms. We've built safety tools directly into the app, but no technology replaces your own instincts. This guide covers our built-in safety features, practical advice for meeting people in person, and what to do if something goes wrong — from threats and harassment to image-based abuse. You are never alone in this.

1. Safe Meet — the buddy system

Safe Meet is CruiseCtrl's built-in safety feature for in-person meetings. It works as a two-part buddy system: you nominate a trusted contact, set a "safe by" time, and if you don't check in safe by that time, your buddy receives an automatic alert containing your last known details. It costs nothing and takes under a minute to activate.

How to activate Safe Meet

  1. Go to Settings → Safe Meet, or tap the shield icon that appears on a profile just before you arrange to meet someone.
  2. Choose a trusted buddy — this can be anyone: a friend, a flatmate, a family member. They do not need to have CruiseCtrl installed; they only need to be reachable by SMS or email. Enter their name and contact detail.
  3. Set your "safe by" time — this is the deadline by which you'll confirm you're okay. You can set it anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours from now. Be realistic: pick a time that's after you expect to be home or comfortable, not right when the meet starts.
  4. Tap Start Safe Meet. Your buddy receives a brief message explaining that you've set up a check-in and that they'll hear from CruiseCtrl if you don't report back by the time you specified.

Checking in safe

When your safe-by time approaches, you'll receive a push notification reminding you to check in. Open the app and tap I'm safe. That's it — your buddy receives a confirmation and the Safe Meet session closes.

If you need more time, tap Extend to push the deadline forward before it expires. You can extend as many times as you need.

What happens if you don't check in

If the safe-by time passes and you haven't checked in or extended, CruiseCtrl automatically sends your buddy an alert. The alert tells them:

Your buddy never sees your chats, your profile gallery, your messages with the person you're meeting, or any other content from the app. Safe Meet shares only the minimum information needed to help a friend find you if something has gone wrong.

After an alert is sent, you can still check in from the app if you're okay — this closes the session and reassures your buddy immediately.

2. Before you meet someone in person

The following steps won't guarantee safety, but they meaningfully reduce risk. They're not rules — they're tried-and-tested practices from within our community.

3. If something feels wrong

Leave. Your safety is more important than being polite, avoiding awkwardness, or worrying about someone's reaction. If you feel unsafe at any point — before, during, or after a meeting — remove yourself from the situation first.

Once you're somewhere safe:

4. Sextortion and threats

Sextortion is when someone threatens to share intimate images or sexual information about you unless you pay them money or do something they demand. It's a form of blackmail, it's a crime, and it happens across every platform — not just dating apps. If it's happening to you, know that you've done nothing wrong and that there are concrete steps you can take.

What to do if someone threatens you

  1. Do not pay. Payment rarely stops the threats and often escalates them. Once someone knows you'll pay, they almost always come back for more.
  2. Do not delete evidence. Take screenshots of the threats, messages, and any profile information before you block them. You'll need this if you report to police.
  3. Block and report in-app immediately — this stops them seeing your profile and contacting you further through CruiseCtrl. It also sends a report to our Trust & Safety team.
  4. Report to the police. In Ireland: An Garda Síochána — call 112 or 999. This is a criminal matter and the Gardaí take it seriously. In the UK: call 101 (non-emergency) or report online at met.police.uk or your local force. In other EU countries, contact your national police.
  5. Contact a specialist support organisation. In the UK, Galop supports LGBT+ people experiencing blackmail and abuse: 0800 999 5428. The Revenge Porn Helpline (England & Wales) handles intimate image abuse: 0345 6000 459.
  6. Use StopNCII.org to prevent your images spreading further — see section 5 below.

Additional organisations that can help: the Marie Collins Foundation and the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative both provide practical support and guidance for people affected by image-based exploitation.

5. Image-based abuse and non-consensual image sharing

If someone shares or threatens to share intimate images of you without your consent, this is a serious crime in Ireland, the UK, and most EU member states.

StopNCII.org

StopNCII.org is a free tool that creates a digital fingerprint (hash) of your intimate images without storing the images themselves. That hash is then shared with participating platforms so they can automatically detect and block the image if someone tries to upload it. It works across many major platforms and is run by the Revenge Porn Helpline with support from Meta and others. It is free to use, does not require you to upload the image in full, and is available internationally.

Steps: go to stopncii.org → Create a Case → follow the prompts on your own device. The image never leaves your phone.

6. Being "outed"

If someone threatens to reveal your sexuality, gender identity, or HIV status to people in your life without your consent — to your employer, family, or community — this is a form of coercive abuse. It is also potentially a criminal matter in many jurisdictions under harassment or blackmail laws.

Steps to take:

  1. Document the threat. Screenshot the messages, note the date and time, and save the person's profile information before you block them.
  2. Block and report in-app immediately.
  3. Contact a support organisation that understands the specific risks LGBTQ+ people face:

If the person carries out their threat, you may also have civil and criminal remedies for harassment. A solicitor or legal advice charity in your country can advise further.

7. HIV status and health information

Your health information on CruiseCtrl — including anything you share about your HIV status, PrEP use, or sexual health practices — is private by default. You decide what to share, with whom, and when. Health fields on your profile are hidden unless you explicitly switch them on, and even then they are only visible to users who can see your profile.

We never share your health information with third parties for advertising, analytics profiling, or any other commercial purpose. It is processed only to display it on your profile as you have chosen, and it is protected as special-category data under GDPR Article 9.

If someone uses your health status to discriminate against you, threaten you, or coerce you:

8. Travel safety

If you're travelling — particularly outside the EU — it's worth doing a little research before you open any dating app.

9. Underage users

CruiseCtrl is strictly 18+ and every account must pass an age-assurance check before gaining access. Despite these controls, if you ever suspect that someone you encounter on the app may be under 18, please report them immediately using the in-app report button on their profile — choose the reason "Under 18 / underage user".

Any content that sexually depicts a minor (CSAM — Child Sexual Abuse Material) is treated with zero tolerance. We act immediately on any such report: the content is removed, the account is permanently banned, and we proactively report to An Garda Síochána, Hotline.ie, and the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline, as required under EU and Irish law. We do not wait for legal proceedings before acting.

If you've seen something that has distressed you, you don't have to sit with it alone — email safety@cruisectrl.eu and we'll support you through next steps.

10. Emergency contacts

Keep these to hand. All helplines listed are either free or low-cost.

Ireland

UK

International

11. Report and block in the app

Reporting is always free, always anonymous (to the person you're reporting), and takes less than a minute. It directly reaches our Trust & Safety team. Every report you make helps protect not just yourself but the whole community.

For a full walkthrough of how to report or block a user, what happens after you submit a report, and how to appeal a decision, see the Reporting & Blocking guide.

For the full legal detail on how we approach safety, moderation, and our obligations, see our Safety Guide and Community Guidelines.

Still stuck? Email support@cruisectrl.eu · Back to Help Centre