| Hello, Today we launched our special Valentine's Day edition of *Privacy Not Included. We looked into the privacy and security of 24 dating apps and 26 connected sex toys. Because finding love shouldn't mean sharing all your most intimate details with the world...or Facebook. Highlights from our Valentine’s Day *Privacy Not Included special edition: - Dating apps are terrible at protecting your privacy
Of the 24 dating apps we reviewed — everything from Tinder, OKCupid, Coffee Meets Bagel, Hinge, Happn, Christian Mingle, BlackPeopleMeet, Grindr, Lex, eHarmony, Elite Singles, and more — only three dating apps did not get slapped with our *Privacy Not Included warning label. 21 dating apps may be likely to learn, and then share, way too much about you. - Don't sign into dating apps with Facebook
Nearly all of the 24 dating apps we reviewed allow users to sign up or sign in with Facebook. Many of these dating apps then collect a lot of information from Facebook and Facebook may collect information from the dating apps. Given that most dating apps and Facebook all have terrible track records at protecting user data, this is very bad. We recommend dating apps stop using Facebook for sign up altogether. - If you care about privacy, delete Tinder and Grindr
Tinder and Grindr were two of the worst dating apps we reviewed when it comes to protecting users' very private, personal information. Grindr was recently fined nearly $12 million dollars by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority for illegally sharing private, personal information with advertising companies. Tinder has also been accused of doing the same, while also failing on numerous occasions to protect sensitive user information. - Three dating apps we liked
Not everything was awful. Lex, a dating app targeted at lesbian, non-binary, and trans women — is the best dating app we reviewed for privacy. Location-based dating app Happn and long-standing dating app eHarmony also do better than most at protecting your private information. - Dating apps use artificial intelligence to help you find love...we think
Many of the dating apps we reviewed highlight that they use artificial intelligence algorithms to help you find love. One problem, there is almost zero transparency into how these algorithms work. So we can't be sure they won't carry bias based on things like ethnicity, religion, or age. Or that they're even any good at finding the right person for you. - Go with a bigger company if you plan to buy a connected sex toy
The pandemic has driven us to more long distance relationships. The result is a bump in the use of connected sex toys to keep lovers connected. If you buy a device from one of the bigger, more established companies like Lovense, WeVibe, Kiiroo, or Vibease, you'll probably be OK. Stay away from connected toys from smaller companies as they often place less importance on privacy and security.
With Valentine's Day just a few days away, there's still time to find love and romance safely on the internet. And we're here to help. Read Our Guide Please share our Webby Award-winning buyer's guide with your friends, family, and anyone else who might be looking for love. Because no one wants to get creeped out on Valentine's Day. Share the Love on Facebook Spread the Love on Twitter Thank you, Jen Caltrider
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