Legal

Campaign staffers working for Democratic candidates were warned this week that they could be targeted by bad actors through dating apps. According to CNN who broke the story, the staffers were told to “swipe carefully” because any personal information they share through profiles, photos, or even their messages could be hacked in order to get information on them or their campaigns.

"We're received reports that opposition groups may be trying to 'sting' or infiltrate Democratic campaigns or organizations through dating sites," the warning read.

BlueCity, parent company of China’s largest gay dating app Blued, has just announced its acquisition of popular Chinese lesbian dating app LESDO, marking the first-ever deal within the country’s LGBTQ market.

LESDO is an app created specifically for Lesbian users and one of the most popular lesbian social apps in China along with Rela. No financial information was disclosed about the deal. 

"We can see the scale of existing lesbian apps are not big enough to meet the demand of a sizable market," BlueCity's founder and chief executive Ma Baoli said in an interview with Reuters. He added that BlueCity could offer algorithm support, marketing, and financing to boost customer retention and visibility as well as increase new subscribers of the app.

The Meet Group’s revenue and profits soared past original milestones for Q2 of this year, thanks in part to so many singles turning to dating apps during coronavirus lockdowns.

The company beat Wall Street estimates, with net income at $10.3 million, up from $2.2 million in the same period last year. This was a huge jump – resulting in a 373% increase in profits for the company. According to Philadelphia Business Journal, The Meet Group did not conduct an earnings call with investors over Q2 results, nor did they speak to the publication about the increase, and what part of its business was generating the most income.

The Australian Consumer Agency Choice has filed an official complaint against popular dating app Tinder for secret multiple pricing levels for its Tinder Plus premium service based on a user’s personal data, including gender, sexual preference, and age.

The complaint was filed with ACCC, the national consumer commission in Australia, according to Mashable. It’s been no secret that Tinder has charged higher prices for Tinder Plus to users over the age of 30, but this is the first time the public has learned of multi-level pricing based on personal data, and the wide range of pricing – from AUD$6.99 to AUD$34. Tinder offered no transparency about their pricing up front, so many users are probably still unaware they are being charged more if they are over 30, or LQBTQ+, or if they are male, for example.

Struck, a dating app focused around astrology, has launched this summer after some initial delay from Apple’s approval process.

Founded by a team of former Apple engineers made up of mostly women, including two women of color and one LGBTQ+ member, the app is notably different from mainstream dating apps in look and functionality. According to Tech Crunch, the app recommends matches based on detailed birth charts, not just your sun sign. So instead of photos being front and center, charts are the main draw. You can toggle back and forth between someone’s chart and their profile which includes a short bio, age, preferred pronouns, height and sexual preference. Nadine Jane is the company’s resident astrologer and expert.

Personal information stolen from 3,688,060 users of dating app MobiFriends was posted online, according to ZDNet.

The information doesn’t contain private photos or messages or any sexual-related content, but it does include other sensitive data that can be exploited, including email addresses, mobile numbers, dates of birth, gender information, usernames and passwords.

The personal data also includes recent app and website activity of the users.