Safety

A new Pew study has found that over half of dating app users (53 percent) said that their experiences have been at least somewhat positive, including 14 percent who said they had very positive experiences. About 46 percent say their experiences on dating apps have been at least somewhat negative, showing the dating population is divided on how well the platforms are working for them.

While 53 percent shows that more than half of daters have had positive experiences, dating apps have a long way to go in satisfying their customer base, as some users reported facing harassment or scams, according to the report. Peoples’ experiences also vary by race, gender and ethnicity, as well as household income and sexual orientation.

Pew reported that 57 percent of men report positive experiences compared to 48 percent of women, and 61 percent of LGB users have had positive experiences compared to only 53 percent of straight users.

Image: Tinder

Tinder announced the launch of its latest safety feature to address abuse over the app, dubbed “House Rules.”

Tinder users must agree to the list of house rules outlined in a 20-page safety guide before they can download the service. The guide highlights the app’s safety features, including photo verification, how to report and block abusive users, according to News.com Australia.

The guide also provides tips for dating in person, including advice to Tinder users to schedule a video call beforehand to “get a vibe for the other person” according to Global Dating Insights. It also provides tips like sharing details and location of the date with friends or family beforehand, and keeping track of drinks to avoid spiking.

Representatives from dating app companies alongside ministers, victim-survivors, government officials and technology companies attended a roundtable in Sydney to discuss safety measures needed for dating apps. They discussed adding background checks and ID verification requirements, as well as increasing transparency and sharing of data between dating app companies.

According to The Guardian, Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that “there’s no one law that’s going to fix this issue,” placing the burden of responsibility on dating app companies.

The talks were led by federal communications minister, Michelle Rowland and included representatives for popular dating apps such as Bumble and Tinder. She noted the talks were an “important first step,” according to The Guardian. The roundtable was convened after a report from the Australian Institute of Criminology found that three quarters of survey respondents had been subjected to sexual violence on dating apps in the last five years.

Major Australian news outlet ABC is providing tips for dating app users to prevent scammers from obtaining their personal information.

A report from the Australian Competition Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch came out that dating app users lost $38 million to romance scammers on dating apps across the country in 2022 alone, alerting officials to a growing problem. Many dating app users have no idea how easy it is to gather information about a person from what they post in their profiles, so ABC obtained tips from security experts to help raise awareness. 

According to associate professor at Central Queensland University’s College of Information and Communication Technology Ritesh Chugh, scammers don’t need access to a lot of information. If they have a couple of pieces, such as your full name or birthdate, that could be enough for them to do some damage. And even if you aren’t posting this information to your profile, there are ways they can obtain it.

Image: Tinder

Romance scams have risen sharply in the last two years, so dating company Match Group is launching an awareness campaign across many of its apps to address the issue.

The company announced that its campaign will introduce in-app messages and email notifications, offering users tips on how to protect themselves from online scammers according to Tech Crunch. Tinder and Meetic will offer the tips via in-app messages, outlining behavior that could be red flags. When users come across someone that might be a scammer, the app will offer suggestions like making sure their profile photo is verified or video chatting with them before making plans to meet in person.

Match, Hinge and Plenty of Fish will send message notifications with the same tips but will send emails to users as well.

Following a devastating study by Brigham Young University which found that hundreds of instances of rape in Utah could be linked to dating apps, the state’s lawmakers are introducing legislation to help curb the problem.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, under the proposed legislation, online dating platforms would be required to provide a list of safety measures as well as instructions for how users can report assaults. These companies will also be expected to notify members if background checks are conducted and if a user they’ve messaged has been banned from the app.

The legislation had been proposed before, but now is being reintroduced this legislative session by state Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, according to The Tribune.