Fake dating sites process special personal data of visitors without their consent. This includes things like medical data, sexual preference, mental state, religion and nude photos. This violates the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG).
This is according to research by the KRO/NCRV program Pointer (1).
Employees of the program spoke with several former employees of the fake dating sites. Their task was to keep visitors chatting for as long as possible: after all, customers paid for each message sent. The television program had also studied manuals and work instructions of five chat messages. Finally, an editor went undercover for three days as a chat operator.
Nowhere from these sources does it appear that the fake dating sites take visitors' privacy (2) seriously. For example, chat operators are not informed about the sensitivity of the information they are required to collect. Applicants who want to work for the fake dating sites are not checked beforehand. No background check takes place, there is no physical meeting, nor do they have to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG).
Perhaps worst of all, customers are downright misled on the fake dating sites. Thinking they are chatting with a potential date, they reveal all sorts of personal and intimate details about their lives, including information about their sexual preferences and nude photos. In reality, they are conversing with employees whose job is to gather as much privacy-sensitive information as possible. When visitors ask if this is a fake profile, they pretend their nose is bleeding and pull out all the stops to change the subject.
Pointer conducted conversations for weeks under the pseudonym Pim Onter, supposedly a 41-year-old man who worked at sheltered employment and lived under supervision in nursing home and was looking for a long-term relationship. All in all, enough signals for chat operators to intervene, but none happened. Instead, chat operators asked for numerous special personal data. Customers did not consent to this.
According to lawyer Martien Schaub, these are very malicious practices. "These websites cover up the fact that fictitious profiles are used to lure gullible people out of their pockets as much money as possible," he told Pointer.
On a number of fake dating sites it can be found that they communicate with fabricated profiles: it is in the fine print of the terms and conditions. That, according to Schaub, is insufficient. "It's there, so you can say that that information is available. But the law requires that that information -really the essential features of the service- be provided in a clear and understandable way. So that does not mean you would have to actively look for it yourself," the lawyer said.
Schaub leaves no room for misunderstanding: chat platforms may not process special personal data unless they have explicit permission from visitors. And that, he says, is not the case here. The AVG mentions one exception to this rule: if customers disclose this data of their own free will, it may be processed. "But that doesn't happen here either, because it happens in a chat that customers think is a private chat," Schaub says. The fact that chat employees have access to highly sensitive data and intimate photos, the lawyer finds downright objectionable.
The Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM) says it cannot comment on Pointer's findings without conducting its own investigation. Director of Consumers Edwin van Hout says customers should not be misled. "Especially if you ask about it, you should just be informed directly and clearly whether you are dealing with real people or fake profiles that you cannot make an appointment with."
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens also says it cannot comment on this particular issue. "What is private must remain private. And that applies to special personal data even a little more than with things like your e-mail address or phone number. When it comes to your sexuality or health, you don't want that data to just end up on the street or with parties who shouldn't have it," a spokesperson told Pointer.
The current affairs program has contacted four providers of fake dating sites. The spokesman for Contactmaken.nl acknowledges that too little attention is paid to informing visitors that they are chatting with chat operators instead of potential dates. He promises to give this "extra priority."
The spokesman for Flirthonk.co.uk acknowledges that there is "no intention" to mislead customers. In his view, there is no such thing. "We believe that we inform our users amply enough about the nature of our service," he said.
"The vast majority of our users, come to the website for some excitement and/or distraction from the daily grind. I understand that this is not understood by many people but this target group is larger than people generally think. However, it takes all the excitement and fun away from the user if, for example, we were to start stating with every message sent by the user that the response they receive is completely fictitious."
Emdv B.V., the company that runs several fake dating sites, acknowledges that staff were not sufficiently trained. Therefore, chat operators allegedly lied about whether they were working with a fake profile. It promises to communicate more clearly in the future about the ACM's rules of conduct.
Regarding the processing of special personal data, Emdv B.V. says it has signed a processing agreement with an external party. The company also let it know that it has filed a notification with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens because Pointer's editors accessed personal data.
https://pointer.kro-ncrv.nl/naaktfotos-en-medische-gegevens-van-klanten-nepdatingsites-door-medewerkers-in-te-zien
https://www.vpngids.nl/privacy/
