Privacy

Dating app Bumble’s platform was found to have a security vulnerability capable of leaking the exact locations of its users, putting them at risk of potential attackers.

The researcher who discovered the security flaw created two fake profiles, one for the “attacker” and one for the “victim,” to check vulnerabilities in the app’s API. He was able to bypass signature checks for API requests, which meant he got around Bumble’s paywall to execute the attack.

His test revealed the exact location and the distance of the fake victim from the fake attacker through a process of trilateration, according to security trade magazine The Daily Swig. In other words, he figured out how the app calculated and matched approximate user locations by rounding down the exact distance they are from each other. 

The Vatican and Catholic Churches in the U.S. are bracing for more of its clergy members to be outed for using gay dating app Grindr.

The Pillar published a report that based on “legally obtained” data there seem to be “at least 16 mobile devices [that] emitted signals from the hookup app Grindr on at least four days between March to October 2018 within the non-public areas of the Vatican City State, while 16 other devices showed use of other location-based hookup or dating apps, both heterosexual and homosexual, on four or more days in the same time period.”

The Pillar maintains that this information was obtained through commercially available app signal data, not through hacking, and that it pulled data from rectories and other clerical housing from 2018 through 2020.

Dating app Bumble is taking another step to address concerns of abuse and harassment on its female-friendly platform: offering trauma services for those who need help.

The company partnered with remote trauma support site Bloom, operated by non-profit Chayn in the U.K., to offer free therapeutic services to users, according to Mashable. Bloom provides online courses on mental health topics for survivors of sexual assault and harassment, such as managing anxiety.

In addition to Bloom’s online courses, Bumble users can receive up to six therapy sessions and can chat online with therapists when they need. Chayn’s therapists are trained in sexual assault and trauma therapy, and some are survivors themselves, according to Mashable. 

Tinder announced that it will roll out its ID verification system worldwide so users can verify their ages. This follows the app’s photo verification feature to address the issue of eliminating fake profiles propagating the app.

ID verification will be prominently displayed on a user’s profile, similar to the blue checkmark currently used for a verified photo, according to Tech Crunch.

Tinder began beta testing ID verification regionally in 2019 and said it will be rolling it out worldwide over the next few quarters. In most countries the service will be voluntary, at least for now, to address the challenge of underage people using the app. However, in places like Japan where it’s against the law for people under 18 to use dating apps, verifying ages will be mandatory. The feature will be free to use.

A new study from Pew found that almost half of dating app users still have concerns about safety and security, even as popular apps are starting to address these concerns with features like background checks.

According to the study, 46 percent of Americans view dating apps to be unsafe, for three main reasons. They are primarily concerned with other app users lying and misrepresenting themselves, as well as with people who set up spam accounts. They are also concerned about receiving unsolicited explicit messages or photos, all pervasive problems.

Apps have begun to address these issues. Tinder launched a background checks feature in recent months so users could check out matches before agreeing to meet. Dating conglomerate The Meet Group debuted face verification badges that are powered by AI technology, so that users could offer verified profiles. Bumble also debuted a new feature that uses AI technology to blur unsolicited photos that contain graphic and lude images, so its members don’t have to see the photos in order to report them.   

TikTok and Twitter users are posting profiles of closeted Olympic athletes who are discreetly using Grindr while they compete in Tokyo for the 2021 Olympics, raising alarm among LGBTQ+ communities.

Some of the athletes who have been highlighted have not come out as gay, while at least one comes from a country where same-sex sexual relations are illegal, putting them in danger. According to a report from Insider, there are other risks as well because the Olympics are taking place in Tokyo, and Amnesty International has said it’s a culture that “systemically discriminates against gay people.”

The social media users are logging on to the Grindr app and using its “explore” feature to find profiles of athletes in the Olympic Village. When they find an athlete, they take screenshots and video, zooming in on their photos and posting them without the athletes’ consent or knowledge. So far, ten profiles have been posted to Twitter and four to TikTok, with one post gaining at least 140,000 views according to Insider.