Get the
blue badge
Confirm you're a real person, over 18, with a number that works. It's done in a few minutes through a specialist verification partner - we never see your documents.
You get a badge that tells clients you're genuine, your public number gets a confirmed tick, and you move up the rankings. It's free, and it takes a few minutes.
It is also required before a listing goes live. We used to make it optional. We changed that because a tick-box saying you're over 18 is not a real check, and everyone advertising here deserves to know that everyone else has been checked too. You can build your listing and pay for a plan before verifying - it only gates publication.
What it gets you
The badge
A cyan tick on your listing, on your card in browse, and in search. Clients filter by it - there's a "verified only" toggle a lot of people leave on. Without a badge, those people never see you.
You rank higher
Verification is a real input into your ranking, not a decoration. Between two listings on the same plan in the same city, the verified one goes above. We want the site full of verified listings, so we tilt the board.
A number that answers
Verification confirms the phone number on your listing too. Half the messages a new listing gets are people checking you're not a scam - the badge answers that before they ask.
How it works
Your documents never reach our servers
You're handing your legal identity to something connected to sex work. It would be strange if you weren't cautious. So here's the honest shape of it: the check doesn't happen on Private Encounters at all.
- 01
A secure window opens
Run by a specialist verification partner - the same kind of service banks use. It opens over the top of your dashboard. Everything from here happens inside it, not on our site.
- 02
You show your ID and your face
Photograph your document, take a short liveness selfie so it can tell it's really you, and confirm your phone with a code. A few minutes, all on your phone.
- 03
They check it. It never reaches us.
The documents and selfie go to the partner, not to us. There is no bucket on our side with your passport in it, so there is nothing here to leak. They do hold it on our behalf, which means we stay responsible for how it is handled - our biometrics page sets out exactly what that means.
- 04
We're told one thing
Verified, or not verified. That's the entire message we receive. On a pass, the badge appears on your listing on its own - usually within minutes.
And what never happens
Your ID is never shown to a client. Not ever, not on request, not for a fee.
Your legal name is never displayed anywhere on the site. Your working name is the only name here.
Private Encounters never receives, stores, or backs up your documents - they stay with the verification partner under their own security and retention.
We never sell or hand your identity to a marketing company or a data broker.
We only involve the Police if we are legally required to, or if a life is at risk.
Full detail - including who the partner is and your rights under the Privacy Act 2020 - is in the privacy policy.
What you can use
Any government-issued photo ID that shows your date of birth. All you need is your phone and the document itself.
NZ driver licence
The most common one, and the easiest.
Passport
Any country.
Kiwi Access Card
The 18+ card. Proves age and identity and nothing else.
Other government photo ID
Overseas licence, national ID card.
What the badge means
Worth being precise, because a badge that claims too much is worse than no badge at all.
It means
- A real person passed an independent identity check.
- That person is over 18 - confirmed from a government document.
- The face on the ID matches the person who did the check.
- The phone number on the listing is real and theirs.
It doesn't mean
- That the photos were taken this year.
- That the rates, services or availability are current.
- That the person is safe, pleasant, or good at their job. An ID is not a character reference.
- That the same person is still using the account today.
Clients: it's a reason to worry less, not a reason to stop screening. Everything on the safety page still applies to a verified listing.
How long does it take?
A few minutes to do, and the badge usually appears within a few minutes of finishing - sometimes a little longer. You can carry on setting up your listing while you wait.
Does the badge expire?
No. Once you've been confirmed as you and over 18, that doesn't stop being true. If you change your public phone number, the number tick drops until you confirm the new one - but the identity badge stays.
What if it doesn't go through?
Usually it's a blurry photo or a document the check couldn't read. You'll be told what went wrong and you can try again straight away, up to ten attempts an hour, and it never costs anything. A rejection is also never the last word: every one is looked at by a person before it counts, because automatic checks get people wrong. Some results are final rather than retryable - the commonest is the partner finding your documents already on file from another service it checks for - and retrying will not clear those, so leave it with us instead.
Can I be verified but keep my legal name off the site?
Yes - that's the default and there's no way to turn it off. Your legal name is only used for the check, with the partner. Every public thing about you uses your working name.
Can I withdraw and have my details deleted?
Yes, any time. Email us and we drop the badge and the verification record on our side, and you can ask the verification partner to delete what they hold. That's your right under the Privacy Act.
A few minutes. Costs nothing.
Questions before you start? Email support@privateencounters.co.nz and ask. We'd much rather talk you through it than have you skip it.
Start verification