Safety & Trust
A video call with someone new should begin with clear expectations. Here is what we check, what we do not check, and what both people can do to make a session safer.
What we check before listing someone
- Every person provides an introduction video before their profile can be published.
- Every person agrees to our conduct and safety rules before publication.
- If a person is labelled a verified fitness trainer, we check the fitness credential they list and show the date of that check on their profile.
- An uncertified person is labelled an exercise buddy. If they accompany strength workouts, the profile says exercise buddy for strength workouts.
What we do not check
We do not currently run criminal-background or formal identity checks. We do not supervise sessions, and a listing is not a guarantee that someone will be the right person for you. Watch the introduction video, start with a conversation, and trust your own comfort.
We also do not ask about or record a provider's immigration status or right to work.
Exercise buddy and trainer boundaries
An exercise buddy keeps you company, exercises alongside you, counts repetitions or intervals, and encourages you. They do not design workouts, choose weights, or correct technique.
A verified fitness trainer may offer professional exercise guidance within the scope of their own qualifications. A checked credential does not turn them into a doctor or make every kind of exercise suitable for every person.
Nobody provides medical advice here
Buddies and trainers must not diagnose conditions, treat injuries, interpret symptoms, or advise you about medication, doses, or side effects. A question about your health or medicine belongs with your own healthcare professional.
If you take a weight-loss medication, have a heart condition or osteoporosis, get dizzy, have fallen recently, are pregnant, or have been unwell, talk to your own doctor before you begin. Tell the person exercising with you what your doctor said you should avoid. If anything hurts, stop.
If something feels urgent
Chest pain, sudden breathlessness, dizziness that does not pass, confusion, numbness, a fall, or feeling seriously unwell is not a support-email problem. End the session and contact the emergency service or healthcare professional appropriate for where you are. A person on a video call cannot provide emergency help in the room.
Money and scam safety
- Agree on the session length, price, currency, cancellation terms, and payment method before paying.
- Never share banking passwords, card PINs, login codes, or copies of financial documents.
- Do not send money for investments, emergencies, loans, gifts, equipment, or anything unrelated to an agreed session.
- Exercise Buddy Finder never collects session payments or asks a buddy to pass money through another person.
Your privacy on video
Choose a part of your home you are comfortable showing. Keep private papers, addresses, medicines, and other personal information out of view. Exercise Buddy Finder is not in your calls and does not record them. Neither person should record a session unless both have clearly agreed beforehand.
When someone makes you uncomfortable
End the call. You do not need to be polite or finish a session that feels wrong. Save any messages that help explain what happened, but do not put yourself at risk to collect evidence.
Tell Annette through Contact & Support. Serious safety reports can lead to an immediate temporary suspension while we investigate. A suspension protects other members during the review; it is not a final verdict. We listen to both people and record what action was taken.