Statistics

Study on Access to Personal Info by Dating Apps

Image: datingroo

Dating app users often don’t realize how much personal information they are giving away just by signing up. But Datingroo, a U.K.-based online dating research company, has released a new study that shows exactly how little privacy most dating app users have.

Datingroo studied the ten most popular dating apps from Tinder to PlentyofFish to eHarmony, examining 45 personal data access points in 13 categories such as precise location, other accounts on the device, network connections, and modification or deletion of the contents on USB storage, and found some surprising results.

Among all the apps, Badoo and PlentyofFish have access to the most data in user’s devices (92% of all access points studied). Combined, they have more than 522 million users worldwide, which means they have access to an enormous amount of information. Coffee Meets Bagel has the fewest users (7 million), as well as the least data access.

A new study found that dating app users tripled in India over the course of 2018, thanks mainly to women.

Dating app usage in the Indian market has huge potential, and not just because of the impressive growth over the last year. Overall user penetration still rather low at 2.7 percent as of 2018, but it’s expected to hit 3.2 percent by 2023 according to online market researcher Statista. Analysts also expect the market to be valued at $100 million in the next five to eight years, according to a report in LiveMint.

Dating apps are incredibly popular, but as they saturate the U.S. market, the significant growth of the last few years is not expected to continue through 2019. Research analysts at eMarketer found that while the number of people use dating apps in the country has grown to a whopping 25 million, the market demand is starting to slow down.

According to Business Insider, apps like Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid, (all owned by Match Group), ^[1] have contributed to the growing interest in dating apps, launching new features every few months to attract new (and young) users.

A new study from Harvard University found that when people use dating apps, they are 2.7 to 16.2 percent more likely to have an eating disorder than those who don’t use the apps.

Researchers from Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health reported that those who used dating apps were more likely to abuse laxatives or use “unhealthy weight management practices,” according to a report from CNBC regarding the study.

Dating apps like Tinder and others feature photos prominently, with users swiping left and right based on how a potential match looks. This points to why dating app users might be more self-conscious about their bodies and try unhealthy tactics to lose weight.

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker - who would fare best on a dating app? A recent study conducted by The Inner Circle analyzed the occupations of 5,000 popular users based in Los Angeles, New York, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Sydney, and Toronto to discover which jobs are most likely to attract potential mates. The findings suggest men and women don’t always seek the same qualities in a match, and that including certain job titles in your profile could significantly boost your desirability.

Women in finance and medicine scored major points across continents. In London, New York and Toronto, female members working in the financial sector received the most right swipes. Women in the medical profession came out on top in Amsterdam in Los Angeles. Ladies in Paris and Sydney proved to be outliers. France’s notoriously stylish capital preferred women working in the fashion industry, while Sydney singles favored women in marketing roles. Other popular industries for women included entertainment, travel, hospitality, law and consulting.

Last week MillionaireMatch reached 4 million registered members making it one of the largest dating services of this type. With hands on moderation of every new profile to make sure standards are met (all are manually reviewed within 24 hours), along with the ability for members to verify their income and profile image (once verified they are marked with a badge) makes this dating service one of the more popular choices for wealthy singles.