Dating Services

Image: wired

The next time you swipe right on a Tinder match when you’re sitting at a bar, consider that hackers might be taking notes.

Website MarketWatch reported that vulnerabilities were found in the popular app, exposing users to hackers. The vulnerability stems from Tinder not using encryption on users’ photos. Instead, they use a basic HTTP, an unsecure older protocol, rather than HTTPS. This means when you swipe, hackers have the ability to see not only profiles, but the actions you take with swiping, super-liking, and rejecting photos as well. Think of it as someone looking over your shoulder as you’re swiping.

Tech Times reported that users aren’t at risk of spies seeing their actions when they are swiping at home over a private Internet connection, but they are when using public WiFi networks.

2018 is off to a rough start for eHarmony. Shortly after one of the company’s advertisements was banned in the UK for being “misleading” comes the news that the popular dating website has taken another hit - one that will cost them more than $2 million.

Last month, eHarmony settled a consumer protection lawsuit in California, agreeing to pay $1.28 million to four counties - Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Napa - and the city of Santa Monica.

The complaint against eHarmony alleged that the company failed to sufficiently explain its subscription fee policy, leading to unexpected charges for consumers. The complaint further alleged that eHarmony did not provide a contract explaining the service, nor did it explain the cancellation procedure as required by law. 

Recipient of Gold
Match.com

Recipient of Silver
eHarmony

Recipient of Bronze
OurTime.com

The 2018 Dating Sites Reviews Single's Choice Award poll was launched on October 1st, 2017. It ran for 3 months and then closed for voting on December 31st, 2017. 393 people cast their votes in the poll. The first question of the poll asked:

What paid dating site or app would you recommend for the Single's Choice Award?

Voters could choose 1 dating service from a selection of 10 of the top dating services in 2017 as selected by the Editor's. For this award the top voted dating service for the above question receives the Gold, second place gets Silver, and for third Bronze.

The recipient of the Gold 2018 Single's Choice Award is Match.com. Match received just over 27% of the votes cast in the poll which is 95 votes. This is a strong showing as it is 7% more votes when compared to last year and almost 5% more votes than our Silver recipient this year.

The recipient of the Silver 2018 Single's Choice Award is eHarmony. This popular dating service gathered 75 votes which gave it over 19% of the total votes cast. This is 5% more votes than in the previous year and 6% more votes than the Bronze recipient of this year.

The recipient of the Bronze 2018 Single's Choice Award is OurTime. This niche dating service for singles 50 years and older received 51 votes which is almost 13% of the total votes cast. This is the first time that OurTime has been a Single's Choice Award winner which is to be commended especially for a dating service that doesn't cater to the entire single pool.

Here are this year's standings for the Single's Choice award for all dating services in the poll:

After purchasing a majority stake in Grindr last year, ​​​​​​a Chinese gaming company has acquired the rest of the popular dating app for gay men. The acquisition means a major payday for the company, but China experts and former intelligence officials fear it could spell privacy problems for users.

Kunlun Group purchased 60 percent of Grindr in January 2016 for $93 million. The Chinese firm has now acquired the remaining stake for $152 million, according to stock filings, which some believe puts the Chinese government in a position to demand sensitive data on the app’s users, including those who are not Chinese citizens.

Kunlun Group initially indicated that Grindr founder Joel Simkhai would stay on as CEO, but following the completion of the deal, Simkhai has left the company with no explanation for his departure.

Just in time for Valentines Day eHarmony is having a 5 day free communication weekend. It starts Thursday February 8^th and runs to the end of day on Monday February 12^th. This event is for eHarmony.com (United States) and eHarmony.ca (Canada) members.

To participate all you need to do is create a free eHarmony account. No credit card is required. Once your account is created you can then complete the second part of the signup process which is taking the personality questionnaire. The questionnaire is an important part of eHarmony's match process as this information is used by their matching algorithm to determine your most ideal matches that will give you the best chance for a long term relationship. It takes about 15 minutes to 30 minutes to complete and is multiple choice questions.

Once you are finished with the questionnaire you will then receive your first set of 4-5 matches. You can then review your matches profiles and send messages to those you wish. Everyday you will receive a new set of high quality matches from eHarmony. One thing that is not included during free communication is viewing of profile photos. To view these you must become a subscriber.

Remember the sooner you register on eHarmony the longer you will have to communicate with your matches for free. For more about this online dating service, please check out our review of eHarmony.

Alexa can play music, tell you the weather, make phone calls, create to-do lists, read the news, shop for groceries, suggest restaurants, request an Uber, order pizza, tell jokes, translate languages, book vacations, control your smart home, talk to your cats, help prepare dinner, find your lost phone, check if you’ve been hacked, and that barely scratches the surface of the 15,000+ skills now available on Amazon’s virtual assistant.

With so many consumers now relying on these voice-activated devices, dating services are wasting no time in jumping on the trend. eHarmony launched its own Alexa skill last October, while Plenty Of Fish opted to join forces with Google Home instead.

Match is the latest to get in on the game with Match First Date What Ifs, a skill designed to turn Alexa into a digital wingman.