A recent study by KU Leuven has revealed troubling privacy risks in location-based dating apps. The research, presented at conferences such as Black Hat and USENIX Security, focused on the 15 most downloaded LBD apps in the Google Play Store, including popular names such as Tinder, Badoo and Grindr.
The team of computer scientists investigated the Internet data shared by these apps and found that all the apps were leaking personal and sensitive user data. This included not only data that users consciously share, such as name, age and sexual orientation, but also information that unintentionally leaks through Internet traffic, such as gender, age preferences and app usage data.
Shockingly, six of the 15 apps were found to leak detailed location data, allowing researchers to track users' almost exact location. This kind of data leak makes users potentially vulnerable to serious threats, including online manipulation and identity theft, stalking, sexual assault and even state prosecution, particularly in countries where LGBTQ+ individuals are persecuted.
The researchers point out that these apps' privacy policies do not adequately address the risks of sharing sensitive data. To better protect users' privacy, they call on app developers to hide all profile data by default and make users more aware of the data they share.
Although after the publication of the findings by KU Leuven have made adjustments to plug the leaks, users of dating apps should remain especially wary. The researchers stress that users should be aware of the risks and assess what data they share on dating apps.
The researchers also offer some tips to users of dating apps who want to better protect their privacy:
Be conscious of what you share: Don't share unnecessary information that could be sensitive, such as your employer or political views.
Don't blindly trust the privacy settings of dating apps: Everything you share is stored on their servers and can be shared with others now or in the future, knowingly or unknowingly.
Use your smartphone's built-in settings to protect your location data: consider sharing only an approximate location and adjusting your phone's settings so that you have to give permission to share your location every time you open a dating app.
