Report reveals that 80% of dating apps can share or sell users’ personal information

80 percent of the Applications dating sites have the ability to share or sell the personal information that their users publish in their corresponding profiles for advertising purposes, as the Mozilla Foundation has discovered.

Although most dating apps claim that you are more likely to find love the more personal data you share, “they fail spectacularly to protect that information,” said one of the researchers, Misha Rykov, who has worked with Jen Caltrider and Zoë MacDonald in the Mozilla Foundation report.

Researchers have determined that, of the 25 dating apps analyzed, only three of them were approved for data protection and privacy. These are Lex, eHarmony and Happn. Although they have acknowledged that “they are not the best,” they seem to respect and protect personal information “a little better than the others.”

On the contrary, Badoo, Muzz, Her, Tinder, OkCupid, Match, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, Bumble, Jdate, Elite, Scruff, OurTime, BlackPeopleMeet and Grindr They are among those that include the ‘Privacy not included’ label, considered the lowest rating in terms of security in Mozilla’s language, as TechCrunch maintains.

The most surprising case has been that of Lovoo, which, although it is available for download in English-speaking countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom), does not have a privacy policy when English is chosen as the only language.

Researchers have anticipated that currently dating apps can ask for information that goes far beyond the name address, or age, to the point that users may have to answer what they would do if their parents were divorced or how they would react if they slipped on a banana peel.

This is the case of the OkCupid application, which introduces an initial questionnaire to get to know users better, which cannot be omitted, and which precedes the profile creation phase in which photos, videos and even content are requested. voice.

Based on your research, these apps may also request information related to religion, race, ethnicity, political opinions, sexuality, and even biometric information if users want the app to show other users that they are actually chatting with a real person.

According to Mozilla, the privacy policies of dating applications can be misleading, as in the case of Tinder, which requires geolocation even though it presents it as optional.

80% of these applications can share or sell personal data for advertising, even those that use subscription models. Furthermore, the 52% of them have a history of data breaches. For example, Grindr had a data breach that allowed an American Catholic group to track members of the clergy.

AI integration also raises concerns; While some apps like Bumble have useful tools, OkCupid was criticized for allowing facial recognition training without consent.

MATCH GROUP Y SPARK NETWORK

The analysis highlights that Match Group and Spark Network own several popular dating apps, meaning data may be shared between them. It also points out manipulative subscription practices in some apps, such as eHarmony. Additionally, the Mozilla Foundation warns about possible biases in matchmaking algorithms. However, the report highlights the positive trend of returning to aliases on some apps, such as Muzz and Her, eliminating the need to use real names.

A PROBLEM THAT COME FROM A FAR AWAY

There have been several studies on how dating apps handle user data. In 2018, Grindr was found to be sharing information about users’ HIV status. In 2020, the Norwegian Consumer Council found that several apps were sharing data such as IP address, sexual orientation, and location. Additionally, Match Group was accused of sending information about Tinder and OkCupid users’ drug use, ethnicity, and political opinions to third parties.

HOW TO PRESERVE THE PRIVACY OF OUR DATA

In addition to recommending the only three apps that can be saved from the sifting, the Foundation proposes that users understand their dating profile as if it were one on LinkedIn. This means that you should assume that anyone can see it and that it is best to only publish photos and details that you consider useful because they will be public.

On the contrary, it is not advisable to log in with third-party accounts, much less link social media accounts to the profile, because this helps to share personal information even more in spaces that do not always manage it correctly.

Finally, it is important to limit application permissions – to prevent the app from accessing the location or the camera, for example – whenever possible and from the device’s Settings section.