Safety

Match Group, parent company to popular dating apps like Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge, has appointed Tracey Breeden to be its new Head of Safety and Social Advocacy.

Breeden is in a newly created position and will be overseeing trust and safety policies for Match Group’s dating apps, and will also be working with the company’s product teams to develop new safety features. According to Inside Hook, Breeden is the former Head of Women’s Safety and Gender-Based Violence Operations at Uber, another tech company that has encountered safety issues for both its customers and drivers. She is also a former investigator and police officer.  

A new report revealed that dating app scams in the UK had significantly increased during the summer as the coronavirus spread and lockdowns continued, and as more people turned to the apps for connection.

More than 600 reports of fraud a month were reported during June, July and August according to Sky News. In addition, there was a 26 percent increase in reported frauds overall during the past year. Since August of 2019, UK police have seen about 400 reports of fraud per month on average, with victims losing over 66 million pounds total over the past year.

Dating app Bumble has announced it will donate a “high six-figure commitment” to the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s new “love is respect” initiative, which aims to empower young people to end abusive relationships. According to news site Built in Austin, the partnership will continue for a three-year period, building on the $100,000 donation Bumble made to the organization back in March. 

When the pandemic progressed and stay at home orders went into effect, many women were placed at risk, because they were essentially trapped with their abusers. Domestic violence is a problem in the U.S., where guns are pervasive and far too often women are the victims in domestic assaults.

The Meet Group has announced that it has added a 3D face authentication-powered verification badge to its platforms. The new badge will use AI technology in authenticating that the account belongs to a real person.

The activation process begins when a user chooses the badge, prompting them to take a selfie in that moment. The AI software from FaceTec then scans and confirms the authenticity of the selfie to “confirm the user’s physical living presence, and perform age estimation” according to Mobile ID World. This is a strategy to prevent underage users and those who engage in catfishing with fake profiles from using the app.

Pakistan has banned five apps on the grounds of having “indecent and immoral content,” including popular dating app Tinder and gay dating app Grindr.

According to CNN Business, the country’s oversight agency for Telecom services, The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, also blocked Tagged, Skout, and SayHi, noting that these apps had violated local laws. The Authority said it had given notice to these companies to remove the dating services and to moderate livestream content on their platforms. When the companies didn’t respond in enough time, it blocked them.

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.