Safety

Image: Grindr

Grindr has launched its new cross-country bus tour “Grindr Rides America” in celebration of Pride month.

“From the Castro to Stonewall, we’ll be getting around—hop on, get off, and get your dicks on Route 66,” Grindr’s cheeky press release reads. “This is all in celebration of YOU as we toast to 15 years and counting.”

Grindr’s bus tour is also in celebration of its fifteenth anniversary, and the company will offer free HIV testing, PrEP resources, and a full-service photography studio to LGBTQ neighborhoods on its route. According to Mashable, a team from medical service Q Care Plus will be along for the ride to discuss HIV and STI prevention with attendees, as well as screening, treatment options, and how to access prep and doxy-PEP to encourage discussion and support without judgment.

A new study from Eventbrite says that young people are turning away from dating apps to meet at in-person gatherings.

According to Axios, the study showed a 42 percent increase in people signing up for in-person dating events, like speed dating, between 2022 and 2023. From May 2023 to April 2024, Eventbrite also saw more than 1.5 million searches for dating and singles events on its platform.

"This ongoing trend speaks to a broader societal shift where people are craving genuine connections and meaningful experiences tailored to their interests," Eventbrite said in the report, which was released in early June. 

Online scams are on the rise across New York state, according to its Attorney General Leticia James.

Local news WGRZ reported that scammers are using dating apps, social media, and unsolicited text messages to lure victims into making fraudulent purchases or investments. Referred to as “pig butchering” – the idea is for the scammer to befriend and form trust with the victim before taking their money.

"New Yorkers hoping to find romance and personal connections online are instead being taken advantage of and victimized by heartless scammers,” said Attorney General James in a release. “Sophisticated fraudsters are increasingly using dating apps and social media to trick users into bogus investment schemes.”

Image: Grindr

Grindr has announced it has partnered with Equality in Movement in Georgia and MPOWER in Ireland to connect its users in these countries with at-home HIV testing kits.

According to the company’s blog post, Grindr says it wants to address the global HIV epidemic by making it easier for its users to have access to testing. While many countries have local testing centers, they can still be difficult to access, expensive, and many people still don’t want the stigma of going to a public place to get tested.

Users in Georgia and Ireland will have dedicated buttons on the app’s interface to order at-home self-test kits, any time of day. The app wanted the access to tests to be as simple as Covid tests have become for most folks. The company also wants to encourage more people to test for HIV by alleviating the stigma with in-person tests and allowing them to test in the privacy of their own home.

The FBI has issued a new warning for dating app users about a scam that involves “verification,” which raises more problems for the platforms as they roll out new safety features.

Scammers have been targeting people signing up for dating apps by asking people they match with to verify their identity “for safety reasons.” They share links to websites to get them off the platform, where they can steal the victim’s money and private data, such as credit card information.

The fake website looks real to users, displaying “fake articles alluding to the legitimacy of the website,” according to the FBI’s announcement. The verification website prompts the victim to provide their name, phone number, email address, and credit card number to “complete the process.” When the victim submits the information, they are led to another dating website charging monthly subscription fees.

Tinder and Hinge announced new features to ramp up safety for their users, including sharing date details with family and friends and filtering unwanted language from comments and messages.

Tinder’s new safety feature Share My Date allows users to share date plans they make with their family and friends for additional safety, including details like location, date and time along with their match's photo. They can do this using the feature up to 30 days in advance, according to USA Today.

While Tinder says about 30 percent of its users already share this information with close friends or family, it makes it much more convenient and top-of-mind to be able to share via the app.