When you sign up for any app, you run the risk of your data being used and compromised.
But certain dating apps have worse privacy concerns than others, according to a new report from digital e-sim provider Nomad.
The report analyzed how much user personal information is available for data hackers to access on the top dating apps from Tinder to Hinge and the others in between.
When it came to the least private apps, Badoo, Bumble and Grindr were at the top of the list, with the report confirming they stored private information including activities linked to a person’s identity.
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The full ranking for worst data privacy was as follows:
- Badoo
- Bumble
- Grindr
- OkCupid
- eHarmony
- Tinder
- Match
- Plenty of Fish
- Elite Singles
- Hinge
Newsweek reached out to the top three worst sites for data privacy for comment via email.
When connecting to a public WiFi network, users could easily expose themselves to hackers and cyber attackers who can then gain sensitive and personal information.
Using public WiFi is one of the worst things you can do as a dating app user, according to experts. If you do, users should consider using a VPN to encrypt their data and mask their IP address.
Even beyond the concerns over data privacy on the apps, many singles are abandoning dating sites altogether in pursuit of organic connection over the algorithmic approach to dating that has become standard for today’s millennials and Gen Z-ers.
Last year, Bumble’s founder and chief executive Whitney Wolfe Herd stepped down from the company after nearly a decade.
Meanwhile, Match Group, which owns Match.com, OKCupid, Hinge and Tinder, reported lower-than-expected earnings results in part related to a decline of paying customers on Tinder.
For both men and women on the apps, users report much to be desired in the average dating app interaction, even when it doesn’t end in ghosting.
While women often say they’re overwhelmed by the number of low-quality matches they get, men often complain they rarely get replies or even matches at all.
“This dissatisfaction could be linked to the algorithms not quite hitting the mark for individual preferences or expectations,” Deon Black, a sex educator and dating coach, previously told Newsweek. “Insecurity and overwhelm are also playing their part, potentially affecting user engagement and willingness to pay for premium features.”
The dissatisfaction is becoming apparent in how quickly users are deleting their apps as well, and it goes far beyond the data privacy concerns.
In an AppsFlyer survey earlier this year, 65 percent of dating apps get deleted within just a month. Of those who uninstall the apps, 90 percent do it within a week.
“Deleting dating apps is a rebellion against the digital dating scene that feels superficial and exhausting to so many people,” Morgan Anderson, a licensed clinical psychologist and relationship coach, previously told Newsweek. “The trend of returning to ‘dating in the wild’ is a breath of fresh air to so many daters who feel burnt out from endless swiping, and failed connections.”
