“Data-hungry dating apps are worse than ever for your privacy.” That is the headline in English with which the Mozilla Foundation, dedicated to promoting privacy, inclusion and online decentralization, opens its report on the situation of mobile software that is dedicated to connecting people looking for a relationship. 88% of the applications studied, a total of 22 out of 25, have been classified by this organization as “Privacy not included”, a seal that it grants to those applications that it considers do not meet a reasonable standard of protection of its users’ data. users.
The report, in addition to a general conclusion, includes a detailed study of the way in which each app processes personal data. The vast majority, 80% according to Mozilla, “share or sell your personal information and do not guarantee all users the right to delete their data.” In this case, they cite Match Group, which includes Tinder among others, and which has more than 40 different dating apps that can share information among themselves about their users “for reasons that include marketing and advertising.”
Generation Z enters adulthood, appears to reduce usage and willingness to pay for a subscription
The Mozilla Foundation states that “Tinder is pretty bad for your privacy and security.” The text details some of the problems of the past, such as the leak of 70,000 photos of women in 2020 or the doubts raised by its verification of photos without adequate consent from users to process their biometric information.
“Match Group’s shaky track record makes us a little nervous about its eagerness to enter the privacy minefield posed by AI integration. That is something that we will monitor closely,” comment the authors of the Mozilla report, who claim that Tinder can know a user’s geolocation even when they do not use the app.
Grindr has sold its users’ data according to The Washington Post
Chris DELMAS / AFP
Another popular app among the gay community is Grindr. Last year, Washington Post published that an American Catholic group purchased data from Grindr to monitor some of its members. Mozilla gives it one of its lowest scores.
Zoë MacDonald, researcher and one of the authors of the report, points out that users perceive the bad practices of this type of apps and rebel. “If dating apps think people are going to keep handing over their most intimate details – basically, everything but their mother’s maiden name – without finding love, they are underestimating their users. Their predatory privacy practices are a decisive factor.”
Losses
The two large groups, Match Group and Bumble, have lost more than $40 billion since 2021
Some indications suggest that dating apps are being used less and less. A Pew Research study published last year concludes that only three in 10 adults have ever used a dating platform or app, a figure stagnant since 2019.
Dating apps struggle to attract young people from Generation Z, who are now entering adulthood. Last month, The New York Times published that the two large groups that share this market, Match Group and Bumble, have lost more than $40 billion in market value since 2021. Both brought in about $4.2 billion last year through subscriptions, but if the public with the that could grow is not willing to pay, problems begin, because income can only be maintained if prices are increased.
The new grail, of course, is AI. Most apps plan to take advantage of it to boost the user experience. Grindr even projects a chatbot in the style of ChatGPT but that uses sexually explicit language. Mozilla has also encountered problems with this use.
