Manage contact privacy

Control who can send you friend requests, direct messages, and community invites.

What are privacy options?

Privacy options let you restrict who can contact you on Root. You can control:

Who can send friend requests: Allow requests from anyone, limit them to users who share a community with you, or block all requests
Who can send direct messages: Allow messages from anyone, limit them to shared connections or friends only, or block all messages
Who can send community invites: Allow invites from anyone, limit them to friends or shared connections, or block all invites
Verified user requirements: Require that users have a verified email address before they can contact you

These settings help you manage your social experience and reduce unwanted contact.

The following options are available:

Option	Who can send you friend requests
Nobody	No one can send you friend requests
Shared connection	Only users who share a community with you
Anyone	Any Root user

Select your profile picture in the user tray.
Select Settings.
Select Privacy from the left navigation.
Under Friendship privacy, select who can send you friend requests.
Optionally, toggle Require verified users to only allow requests from users with verified email addresses.

The following options are available:

Option	Who can send you direct messages
Nobody	No one can send you direct messages
Friends	Only users on your friends list
Shared connection	Only users who share a community with you
Anyone	Any Root user

Select your profile picture in the user tray.
Select Settings.
Select Privacy from the left navigation.
Under Direct message privacy, select who can send you direct messages.
Optionally, toggle Require verified users to only allow messages from users with verified email addresses.

The following options are available:

Option	Who can send you community invites
Nobody	No one can send you community invites
Friends	Only users on your friends list
Shared connection	Only users who share a community with you
Anyone	Any Root user

Select your profile picture in the user tray.
Select Settings.
Select Privacy from the left navigation.
Under Community invite privacy, select who can send you community invites.
Optionally, toggle Require verified users to only allow invites from users with verified email addresses.

When a user is blocked by your privacy settings:

They cannot send you friend requests (if friendship privacy blocks them)
They cannot start direct message conversations with you (if DM privacy blocks them)
They cannot send you community invites (if community invite privacy blocks them)
They do not receive an explicit error message indicating your privacy settings

Existing friends and conversations are not affected by privacy settings. These controls only apply to new contact attempts.

Consider adjusting your privacy settings when you:

Receive unwanted contact from users you don't know
Want to limit your exposure to new friend requests, messages, or community invites
Prefer verified users only to reduce contact from unverified or spam accounts
Share communities with many users but only want contact from people you've interacted with