While dating applications have become much safer to use over the last couple of years, major privacy risks still exist, leaving users vulnerable to threats like cyberstalking and doxing, according to Kaspersky’s analysis of nine popular dating apps, including Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid.
The cybersecurity solutions provider noted that most dating apps allowed users to register their account using social networking sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Spotify. By using this option, the user’s profile is automatically populated with information from that social networking site, including photos and profile information.
“Users are also invited to share information such as their place of work or university. All of the aforementioned data make it easy to find dating app users’ social media accounts, and depending on their privacy settings on those accounts, a host of other personal information,” Kaspersky said. Further, some applications such as Happn, Her, Bumble, and Tinder make it obligatory for users to share their location.
“Access to data such as users’ location, place of work, name, contact information, etc., leaves them vulnerable to cyberstalking or even physical stalking, as well as doxing [whereby previously private information is made public in order to shame or harm the victim],” it said.
“It’s always challenging to find a balance between building a digital presence and maintaining your privacy online, and the shift to online dating creates yet another area where users have to determine the best way for them to forge connections while protecting their security,” Tatyana Shishkova, security expert at Kaspersky, said.
Ms. Shishkova added that over the past few years, dating apps had been working to keep the data secure, and, in the paid versions of many of the apps, users can do things like manually specifying their location or blurring their photos.
Amid online dating witnessing a major boom globally, Tinder reached a record 3 billion swipes in a single day in March 2020, while OkCupid experienced a massive 700% increase in dates from March to May that same year. Kaspersky analysed nine popular with global user bases such as Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, Mamba, Pure, Feeld, Her, Happn, and Badoo. It compared the results to its earlier analysis done in 2017 and found that while dating apps had become safer from a technical standpoint, major privacy risks remained.
“Technology has become permanently entwined with dating and finding love, especially after a year and a half of lockdown that made digital connections the only type possible...when compared to their previous research in 2017, dating apps have become safer from a technical standpoint, particularly when it comes to the transfer of data. However, these apps still pose a significant risk when it comes to exposing too much personal information about users — leaving the former vulnerable to threats like cyberstalking and doxing,” the company said.
It added that in 2017, four of the apps studied made it possible to intercept data sent from the app, and many used the unencrypted HTTP protocol. However, in 2021, the situation has significantly improved. None of the apps studied use HTTP, and no data is sent if the protocol is not secure.
Kaspersky further noted that many apps had been adding paid versions, and these include additional choices — often choices that can enhance users’ security. For example, in the paid versions of Tinder and Bumble, a user can manually choose the location to a specific region. Since only a region is available rather than a specific distance, it is much harder to determine a user’s exact location.
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