Christian Mingle

A new study from the research team at Mozilla has found that dating apps are collecting and selling more information than its users might be aware of.

According to The Washington Post, Mozilla found that 80 percent of the dating apps they reviewed – which include popular apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge among others – may share the personal data of users with their advertisers. In fact, the privacy policies that users must agree with to use these platforms make it clear that their personal information could be sold. But how many are reading the fine print?

Spark Networks’ privacy policy was particularly specific and alarming for its apps JDate, Christian Mingle and Elite Singles. It stated that the apps might collect “sensitive information” including political affiliation, union memberships, and your “sexual preferences and experiences,” according to the Post.

Recipient Christian Mingle

Christian Mingle is the dating service which is the recipient of the 2022 Top Pick - Christian Award. Christian Mingle is the largest dating service of its niche in North America thanks to not only name recognition and it being in business for over 20 years, but with its growing membership base due to members who have found relationships and recommending the service to their friends. Nearly 60,000 singles signup every month.

Over the last few years not much has changed with the Christian Mingle website and the apps (Android and iOS). Frankly not much has needed to change since the current design is balanced and working very well. It is free to join Christian Mingle, create your profile and search for members. The profiles contain enough information that it doesn't take long to fill out but still offers enough information to allow the matching algorithm or members who prefer searching to determine if a match is possible and communication should be the next step. While anyone can join Christian Mingle, the profiles are obviously geared towards those of the Christian faith and have religious based questions like listing your denomination and how often you attend church.

Recipient
Christian Mingle

The Top Pick - Christian Award recipient for 2021 is Christian Mingle. Christian Mingle is one of the original Christian dating services and has been in business for over 15 years and have served over 16 million members. They not only offer a website version of their service but a Android and iOS dating apps as well. Christian Mingle is most popular in the United States and Canada.

New members can join Christian Mingle for free and can create a profile, search for members, send Smiles, and even communicate with Premium Members by replying to their messages. If you would like to initiate a conversation by sending a message or be able to view more than one photo of a member you then need to become a Premium member. This costs as low as $29.99 per month.

Singles in Europe and New Zealand just got a leg up in the romance game. Jdate, ChristianMingle, and Bumble - three of the biggest names in online dating - recently announced plans to expand their services abroad.

Spark Networks, parent company of Jdate and ChristianMingle, recently extended their services, languages, and local market support throughout Europe. Jdate is now available in German and Spanish, as well as English, Hebrew, and French. ChristianMingle is now available in French, Spanish, and German in addition to English. Both platforms will roll out Polish and Russian language support in the next few months.

Spark Networks attributes the expansions to user demand and says they are part of a broader initiative to further enable the global Jewish and Christian communities to try connect, communicate and find partners in their native language.

Earlier this month Spark Networks (who recently merged with Affinitas GmbH the owners of Elite Singles) announced the global expansion of Jdate (for Jewish singles) and Christian Mingle.

As part of this expansion both of these dating services will be available in more languages. Currently Christian Mingle is available in English, French, German and Spanish. Jdate is available in English, Hebrew and French. As of this month Jdate is now available in German and Spanish as well. In the next few months both of these services will offer local support and languages for both Polish and Russian.

For more information you can read the press release. For more about the dating services you can read our Christian Mingle and Jdate reviews.

Spark Networks and Affinitas GmbH have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a stock-for-stock merger. The merger will bring together leading global brands like JDate, ChristianMingle, EliteSingles, and eDarling to cater to a broad spectrum of users with a presence in 26 countries, creating a more diverse and balanced footprint.

With nearly 500,000 period-ending subscribers and over $115 million in revenue for the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, the combined company would be one of the world's largest online dating providers on a pro forma basis.

The transaction has been approved by Spark's Board of Directors and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. The combined company will be named Spark Networks SE and will be headquartered in Berlin, Germany, while maintaining a significant U.S. presence with offices in New York City and Lehi, Utah.