Private original storage
New member profile photos are stored under Mate's protected private storage area. Legacy public photo folders are denied direct web access on supported Apache/LiteSpeed hosting.
Privacy & Photo Protection
Member photos are treated as protected profile content.
Mate does not expose the original profile-photo storage path in normal page markup. Profile images are delivered through short-lived, session-bound signed links with anti-cache headers. No watermark is applied, and member photos remain visible during normal viewing across supported devices.
Signed image delivery
Pages receive expiring, browser-session-bound image URLs. The original file path is not rendered directly, reducing hotlinking and direct URL reuse.
No watermark applied
Mate does not place a visible watermark, viewer identifier, timestamp, or protection mark over member photos. The image remains visually clean while access and browser-level protections continue.
No-store response policy
Protected photo responses use private no-store/no-cache headers, same-origin resource controls, and inline-only content disposition to reduce browser caching and reuse.
Site-wide save and copy deterrence
Right-click saving, dragging, page-content copying/cutting, common Save/Print shortcuts, touch callouts, and printed page output are blocked across Mate where browsers allow it. Normal typing, selection, copying, and pasting inside form fields remain available.
Print Screen deterrence
Mate detects supported Print Screen keyboard events on both key-down and key-up and attempts to replace clipboard screenshots with a protected-content notice where the browser permits it. Legacy blur/capture classes from earlier builds are actively removed, so member photos stay fully visible during normal viewing on desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile. No blur, curtain, or watermark is applied.
Important browser limitation
A standard website cannot absolutely prevent an operating-system screenshot, Windows+PrintScreen file capture, Snipping Tool capture, external-camera photograph, or independent screen recorder while content is visible on a display. Mate therefore combines signed image delivery, blocked originals, site-wide no-cache responses, anti-drag/copy/save/print controls, browser display-capture restrictions, and best-effort Print Screen clipboard replacement. Member photos are never intentionally blurred, faded, hidden, covered, or watermarked during normal on-screen viewing.