Are online dating and data privacy an incompatible match?

Dating is certainly fun, but it can be very stressful. What to wear, where to go, what details of your life to share, topics to avoid. These are probably some of the thoughts that come to mind before a first date. Things have become even more confused in the age of online dating as most of these processes have moved from the offline to the digital world. From the very beginning, your privacy is at stake – not just your heart.

You now have to share a photo of yourself with an email address or phone number to join the dating game. You are forced to share as much information about you as possible to find better matches. You have to trust potential partners, the application and the service provider at the same time to take good care of your most sensitive data – and honestly, dating apps aren’t exactly known to be good at that.

“Dating apps claim that the more personal information you share, the more likely you are to find love. We have no way of knowing if that’s true. What we do know is that most dating apps fail spectacularly to protect that information,” concluded Misha Rykova researcher at Mozilla – the provider behind one of the best web browsersFirefox and VPN service – after carefully reviewing 25 of the most popular dating services out there. The verdict: 22 of them don’t include privacy.

In 2021, we examined some of the most commonly used dating apps and found that not many of them protect users’ privacy very well. Well, we took another look and unfortunately the results are even worse https://t.co/EpFCDIFPzpApril 23, 2024

Age-old and dubious questionnaires that you sometimes can’t even skip, photos and videos of yourself, religion and political preferences, race, ethnicity, sexual preferences and even certain health data such as HIV status or biometric data. And just like that, researchers discovered that you’re forced to give away some of your most sensitive data when you sign up for most of these services.

Worst of all, this is exactly what You share consciously. However, the truth is that the companies behind dating services can collect more information without you probably even realizing it. These details include your geolocation, DMs, and pretty much everything you do in the app.

Of course, service providers need some of this data for functionality purposes. Yet researchers found that “most dating apps (80%) do share or sell your personal information for advertising.” Take for example the most popular LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr, which is currently facing a lawsuit in Britain. about the illegal sharing of HIV data accusations.

It is very important to make it clear that privacy is a gender justice issue
Reem Suleiman, head of US advocacy at Mozilla

The team at Mozilla decided it was time to challenge one of the dating apps that are failing people’s privacy to do better – perhaps other services will follow suit, they thought.

The petition “TELL BUMBLE: Don’t sell or share users’ data without their consent” was launched in early July, calling on the company to make sharing and selling data with third parties an opt-in option instead of an opt-out .

Now, about four months later, Bumble confirmed that it has changed its privacy policy to make it more accessible and “enable our members to understand and control how their data is used,” a company spokesperson told me.

While experts at Mozilla welcome a more consumer-friendly approach, they still believe further changes are needed. Users are still expected to opt out of data sharing. So you are still the one responsible for actively caring for your privacy.

Privacy should be standard: the Bumble case

Mozilla didn’t pick Bumble in a vacuum hoping to solve the online dating business. This is not just because it is the most popular dating app neither in the United States. The main reason was how the company brands itself: an advocate for gender justice.

Do you know that?

Bumble app — (Image credit: XanderST/Shutterstock)

Bumble was founded in 2014 to modernize the gender dynamics of dating by putting women in charge of starting conversations with potential male partners. Since then, the company has taken further steps to promote gender equality and justice. These include offering various inclusive gender identity options And working on a law against sending unsolicited nude photos in Texas.

“I thought it was really important to make it clear that privacy is a gender justice issue,” Reem Suleiman, US Advocacy Lead at Mozilla, told me. “If Bumble wants to continue wearing this as a badge of honor, they really need to take the privacy aspect of it seriously.”

Following the overturning Roe vs. WadeFor example, at least fourteen US states have banned abortion altogether, while others, such as Florida, Idaho and Nebraska, have imposed strict restrictions. The information women share online, especially their private reproductive information, is the leading source of abortion-based research.

Outside of the US, being part of the LGBTQ+ community is even considered a crime in some countries, making the potential leak of this data incredibly dangerous.

The invasive data collection is also concerning, as another study was published in July found a security issue in Bumble and other dating apps that allow malicious users to pinpoint the location of their victims from up to 6 feet away.

“What really rubbed me the wrong way about Bumble was that they weren’t clear about what their policies were,” Suleiman told me. She explained that researchers were trying to reach the Bumble team for clarity, as even they – the privacy experts – could not understand how users’ data was being processed.

After Mozilla’s requests went unanswered for a few months, the team decided to make the petition public on July 2, 2024. Eleven civil society organizations subsequently joined the fight and drafted a more detailed open letter (see tweet below), which was published in August. 8. After that the coalition became even bigger.

We join @mozilla and 11 other civil society organizations in calling on @bumble to honor its commitment to customer security by doing everything we can to protect user privacy. Our list of our demands #BumblePrivacyStings pic.twitter.com/WXvZGD9dEBAugust 13, 2024

The requirements are clear. Make it clear ‘in no uncertain terms’ whether or not Bumble sells customer data and, if so, identify exactly what data the dating service sells and to whom, with particular emphasis on any data brokers. As previously mentioned, the coalition is also demanding a strengthened consent mechanism for customers to opt in to sharing or selling data, rather than opting out.

“The idea is that we must make privacy a standardespecially for services where it is normal for people to bring in very sensitive aspects of their lives,” Suleiman told me, explaining that it is sometimes faster to push the sector to change than to wait for legislation. The US, for example, still lacks a comprehensive privacy policy that regulates data protection matters such as the GDPR in the EU and Great Britain.

Mozilla’s idea was simple: help Bumble understand how privacy is intertwined with its mission to advance gender justice. Make them a role model for other dating apps to follow. “We actually felt at the start of this campaign that we could make the changes we wanted,” Sulemain said.

Indeed, Bumble immediately contacted Mozilla after the campaign went live in July. Sulemain explained that the company promised to unveil a more consumer-friendly version of its privacy policy, but that never materialized. At least until now.

On October 3, Bumble launched a new privacy policy which is notable for its accessibility for readers to navigate. You can easily browse the sections you’re most interested in, with intuitive boxouts highlighting the most important points.

Screenshot of Bumble's privacy policy page, accessed November 1, 2024. — (Image credit: Future)

“We are committed to creating a world where all relationships are healthy and equal, and always have been. In doing so, we recognize that protecting the privacy of our members – especially when it comes to sensitive information – is inextricably linked to the pursuit of gender justice,” a Bumble spokesperson told me.

The dating service also told TechRadar that it does not sell sensitive personal information such as health status, sexual orientation or preferences, political opinions, race or precise location..

Despite their key requirement not being met – data sharing is still on by default, meaning you have to actively opt out – experts at Mozilla have positively welcomed the long-awaited changes.

Suleiman said: “The new changes are an important step forward, and we hope that the entire dating app industry moves towards better privacy practices, given the sensitivity and potential of leaked intimate data to harm vulnerable communities.”

How to use the dating app privately

As we’ve seen, Mozilla’s move ultimately managed to shake up Bumble’s privacy approach and build a more consumer-friendly policy.

The road to dating apps that do not use your data by default is a long time coming. This means you need to take a more proactive approach to minimize risks and use these services more privately.

Below are the three most important privacy tips, shared by experts at Mozilla, to keep in mind when using a dating app:

Think of your dating profile more like your LinkedIn profile. You should always assume that everyone has access to your information, photos and videos, not just potential partners. Before sharing anything about these apps, ask yourself: Am I comfortable with this being made public?
Do not log in with third-party accounts. I know, it can be much faster to log in with your Gmail or Instagram accounts. Still, this means your personal data is shared more across more platforms as two different services are linked together. Definitely a big no if you want to keep your privacy.
Limit app permissions where possible. This should be the golden rule for every app you download on your device. Go to your device settings and disable any permissions the app doesn’t need to function, including your location, address book, and camera roll.

All in all, Sulemain still hopes that all these extra steps will one day be a thing of the past. She said: “We prefer privacy to be the default so people don’t have to take all those steps. We have so many different accounts and apps to manage that it’s just unreasonable to put such a burden on people.

“The hope is to push the industry to do better and create a sense of competition in the privacy space.”