Is Walk With Me Safe?

You know, it's funny. Every time I bring up this app to people, the first question they ask me is, "Well, is it safe?" and the answer I have for them is always the same: "Yes, 'Safe' is the app's middle name! :D" and then I proceed to explain the safety measures put in place to ensure the smooth, safe, secure, and delightful experience of walking socially.

Walking alone can be dangerous. As a matter of fact, I'd say that this app is very useful for people who do not wish to walk alone and want a safe walking experience. The first misconception about the app is: "Ohh, my precise location will be broadcasted to everyone in the city and people will be able to locate and stalk me! No thank you!" and the argument I have towards this is that, no, your location is always offset by 200 meters. This means that the "live" walk marker that you see on the map will never, ever pinpoint exactly where the walker is.

Here's the neat part: on the client level in the app, the marker is randomized to always appear at a random radius of 200 meters. This means that from one user's perspective, the marker will be 65m away to the north of the real location. From another's, 198m away to the southeast. Another's would be 200m from the west, and so on. This means there are different layers protecting your exact location from the very start. Below are examples of how your location is offset by the marker:

"Okay, but what's the point of that if it moves with you wherever you go?" and there lies the second misconception: how instantaneous your location is. It's actually delayed by 5 minutes, so everything that you see on the map is always late by 5 minutes. This means that when someone finds your walk in the app, even if they know how you look and they try to locate you physically without you knowing (Jesus, this is the worst case use of the app and I hope it'll never happen), they'll be faced with the 200m offset hurdle as well as the 5 minute delay. So they'll always be 5 minutes behind and they'll never be able to pinpoint exactly where you're standing.

"So how do people on the app actually find each other and meet?" The answer to this is simple. Simply request to join the walk and once accepted, that's it! You get access to the precise location of the host and find each other!

So of course, the app allows strangers to link up and go for a casual walk around the city to decompress, but it has many guardrails and safety measures in place to prevent and predict any odd behavior that can be exhibited in an app like this.

We, here at Walk With Me, would like to ensure that you have a peaceful walk with people you would enjoy walking with, for whatever purpose! Read more about all our safety and privacy features, or check out our Community Guidelines to learn how we keep the community safe.