China tech firm to sell gay dating app Grindr for $608 million

BEIJING — One of China's biggest mobile gaming companies is selling popular gay dating app Grindr for $608 million after pressure from US authorities concerned over the potential misuse of user data. 

National security officials in Washington fear the platform -- which bills itself as the world's largest social networking space for LGBT people -- could be used by the Chinese government to blackmail Americans with government security clearances, according to media reports last year.

Beijing Kunlun Tech took a majority stake in the app in 2016 and bought the remaining equity two years later for a combined $245 million, but was reportedly ordered to relinquish the platform by US officials last year.

It will sell a 98.59 percent stake in Grindr to San Vicente Acquisition, a holding company based in the US state of Delaware, according to a company filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Friday. 

The deal is awaiting approval from a US committee authorized to review transactions involving foreign investments, the filing said. 

Grindr has faced other accusations of improperly managing the data under Beijing Kunlun's ownership.

The platform violated European Union privacy regulations by sharing the GPS data, age and gender of its users with third-party companies to help target advertisements, according to a report by a Norwegian consumer rights group.

Agence France-Presse 

Tinder unveils 'panic button' for emergency response

WASHINGTON - Tinder announced Thursday that US users would soon have a "panic button" to alert authorities to potentially dangerous situations as part of a stepped up safety initiative by the popular dating app.

A new feature unveiled by Tinder will allow users to opt into the personal safety app Noonlight, which connects users to personal emergency services.

A Tinder spokesperson said the feature would roll out in the coming days in the United States and connect users to "trained dispatchers who contact authorities on behalf of the user."

The new safety feature "acts as a silent bodyguard in situations when you're alone or meeting someone for the first time," said Brittany LeComte, co-founder of Noonlight.

Tinder is also adding photo verification, to compare using artificial intelligence a posed photo taken in real-time to profile photos.

Members with authenticated pictures will get a "badge" that verifies their images are authentic. The photo feature is being tested "in select markets" and will be widely available later this year.

Tinder, known for giving users the option to "swipe" right or left to accept or reject a date, is the largest of the apps in Match Group, operating in 190 countries, claiming to facilitate one million dates per week.

To help allay concerns on personal risks, Tinder said it is launching a safety center within the app to keep users informed of its resources.

This feature is being launched in the United States, Britain, France and Germany and will be "localized" for additional markets throughout the year.

Tinder and its online dating siblings including PlentyOfFish, OkCupid and Hinge, which make up the Match Group, will be spun off as an independent company this year, according to parent firm IAC.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Grindr, Tinder spread personal details, study says

Popular dating services like Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder are spreading user information like dating choices and precise location to advertising and marketing companies in ways that may violate privacy laws, according to a new report that examined some of the world’s most downloaded Android apps.

Grindr, the world’s most popular gay dating app, transmitted user-tracking codes and the app’s name to more than a dozen companies, essentially tagging individuals with their sexual orientation, according to the report, which was released Tuesday by the Norwegian Consumer Council, a government-funded nonprofit organization in Oslo.

Grindr also sent a user’s location to multiple companies, which may then share that data with many other businesses, the report said. When The New York Times tested Grindr’s Android app, it shared precise latitude and longitude information with 5 companies.

The researchers also reported that the OkCupid app sent a user’s ethnicity and answers to personal profile questions — like “Have you used psychedelic drugs?" — to a firm that helps companies tailor marketing messages to users. The Times found that the OkCupid site had recently posted a list of more than 300 advertising and analytics “partners” with which it may share users’ information.

“Any consumer with an average number of apps on their phone — anywhere between 40 and 80 apps — will have their data shared with hundreds or perhaps thousands of actors online,” said Finn Myrstad, the digital policy director for the Norwegian Consumer Council, who oversaw the report.

The report, “Out of Control: How Consumers Are Exploited by the Online Advertising Industry,” adds to a growing body of research exposing a vast ecosystem of companies that freely track hundreds of millions of people and peddle their personal information. This surveillance system enables scores of businesses, whose names are unknown to many consumers, to quietly profile individuals, target them with ads and try to sway their behavior.

The report appears just two weeks after California put into effect a broad new consumer privacy law. Among other things, the law requires many companies that trade consumers’ personal details for money or other compensation to allow people to easily stop the spread of their information.

In addition, regulators in the European Union are stepping up enforcement of their own data protection law, which prohibits companies from collecting personal information on religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sex life and other sensitive subjects without a person’s explicit consent.

The Norwegian group said it planned to file complaints Tuesday asking regulators in Oslo to investigate Grindr and 5 ad tech companies for possible violations of the European data protection law. A coalition of consumer groups in the US said it was also sending letters to American regulators, including the attorney general of California, urging them to investigate whether the companies’ practices violated federal and state laws.

In a statement, the Match Group, which owns OkCupid and Tinder, said it worked with outside companies to assist with providing services and shared only specific user data deemed necessary for those services. Match added that it complied with privacy laws and had strict contracts with vendors to ensure the security of users’ personal data.

In a statement, Grindr said it had not received a copy of the report and could not comment specifically on the content. Grindr added that it valued users’ privacy, had put safeguards in place to protect their personal information and described its data practices — and users’ privacy options — in its privacy policy

The report examines how developers embed software from ad tech companies into their apps to track users’ app use and real-life locations, a common practice. To help developers place ads in their apps, ad tech companies may spread users’ information to advertisers, personalized marketing services, location data brokers and ad platforms.

The personal data that ad software extracts from apps is typically tied to a user-tracking code that is unique for each mobile device. Companies use the tracking codes to build rich profiles of people over time across multiple apps and sites. But even without their real names, individuals in such data sets may be identified and located in real life.

For the report, the Norwegian Consumer Council hired Mnemonic, a cybersecurity firm in Oslo, to examine how ad tech software extracted user data from 10 popular Android apps. The findings suggest that some companies treat intimate information, like sexual orientation or drug habits, no differently from more innocuous information, like favorite foods.

Among other things, the researchers found that Tinder sent a user’s gender and the gender the user was looking to date to two marketing firms.

The researchers did not test iPhone apps. Settings on both Android phones and iPhones enable users to limit ad tracking.

The group’s findings illustrate how challenging it would be for even the most intrepid consumers to track and hinder the spread of their personal information.

Grindr’s app, for instance, includes software from MoPub, Twitter’s ad service, which can collect the app’s name and a user’s precise device location, the report said. MoPub in turn says it may share user data with more than 180 partner companies. One of those partners is an ad tech company owned by AT&T, which may share data with more than 1,000 “third-party providers.”

In a statement, Twitter said: “We are currently investigating this issue to understand the sufficiency of Grindr’s consent mechanism. In the meantime, we have disabled Grindr’s MoPub account.”

AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The spread of users’ location and other sensitive information could present particular risks to people who use Grindr in countries, like Qatar and Pakistan, where consensual same-sex sexual acts are illegal.

This is not the first time that Grindr has faced criticism for spreading its users’ information. In 2018, another Norwegian nonprofit group found that the app had been broadcasting users’ HIV status to 2 mobile app service companies. Grindr subsequently announced that it had stopped the practice.

The report’s findings also raise questions about the extent to which businesses are complying with the new California privacy law. The law requires many companies that benefit from trading consumers’ personal details to prominently post a “Do Not Sell My Data” option, allowing people to stop the spread of their information.

But Grindr’s stance challenges that idea. By agreeing to its policy, its site says, users “are directing us to disclose” their personal information “and, therefore, Grindr does not sell your personal data.”

Myrstad said many consumers were comfortable sharing their data with apps they trusted. “But this study clearly shows that many apps abuse that trust,” he said. “Authorities need to enforce the rules we have, and if they are not good enough, we have to make better rules.”


2020 The New York Times Company

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Facebook launches dating service for US

Facebook rolled out its online dating service for the United States on Thursday, a move taking on rivals such as smartphone app Tinder.

The free "Facebook Dating" site which was announced last year and already available in other countries will allow users to link their Facebook and Instagram post to a separate dating profile.

It will seek to facilitate connections among the more than two billion users of the social network worldwide.

"Facebook Dating allows you to match with friends of friends and/or people not in your friend circle," said a blog post from Nathan Sharp, head of the project.

One of the features, "secret crush" which allows people to connect if they both secretly express interest in each other.

"Facebook Dating won't match you with friends, unless you choose to use Secret Crush and you both add each other to your list," Sharp said.

"Finding a romantic partner is deeply personal, which is why we built Dating to be safe, inclusive and opt-in. Safety, security and privacy are at the forefront of this product."

Sharp said users will have the ability to report and block anyone,and prohibit people from sending photos, links, payments or videos in messages.

Users may share their "stories" posts from the network, which are short video segments, which will help the service be "authentic in a way that a typical dating profile can't," according to Sharp.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, in announcing the plan last year, said it was being designed for "real, long-term relationships, not just hookups."

He pointed out that one in three marriages in the United States start online and that some 200 million Facebook users identify as being single.

Facebook may have an advantage over rivals in that it can allow people to share profiles and images from their social media profiles.

The dating service will be free to users, unlike some rivals which offer both free and paid plans.

Facebook Dating has already been launched in 19 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Surinam, Thailand, Uruguay and Vietnam. 

It is set to launch in Europe in 2020.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Russia requires Tinder to share users' data with security services

MOSCOW -- Popular dating app Tinder is now required to share users' data with Russian security services after being placed on an official register, the country's telecoms watchdog said Monday.

Tinder has over 50 million users swiping right to select dating profiles and find a match. It is part of the US-based Match Group of social apps whose parent firm is InterActiveCorp. 

The Roskomnadzor watchdog said that Tinder was added to its register "after it presented the necessary information".

Roskomnadzor -- together with Russia's law enforcement authorities and security agencies including the feared FSB, the successor to the KGB -- keeps a register of so-called "organizers of information distribution". 

The register lists 175 sites and services including Russia's biggest bank Sberbank and the country's popular social media network VK.

By law, the companies on the register must store user data in Russia for 6 months -- including the content of messages exchanged -- and hand over any of the information to law enforcement authorities if requested to do so.

If the company refuses to comply, the authorities can act to block sites, as was the case last year with the embattled Telegram messaging app, created by maverick Russian Internet guru Pavel Durov.

In a statement, a Tinder spokesperson said the company had "received a request to register with the Russian authorities, and, as of now, we have registered to be compliant".

"However, this registration in no way shares any user or personal data with any Russian regulatory bodies and we have not handed over any data to their government," the spokesperson added.

Some Russian internet users made fun of the move, warning that FSB officers will now have access to any steamy correspondence or unrequited pickup attempts.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dating app Tinder adds STD testing locator

NEW YORK - A feud between the operator of popular "hook-up" software and a leading sexual health advocacy group was settled on Thursday after the dating site agreed to add links to sexually transmitted disease testing locations.

The battle between dating site Tinder and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation stretches back to last fall when the Los Angeles based non-profit group put up billboards and advertisements in Los Angeles and New York associating Tinder with sexually transmitted diseases such as Chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Tinder, which is part of Match Group Inc, owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, sent a "cease and desist" letter to the group after the billboards were erected.

Now that Tinder is adding the STD testing locator to its application, the group is removing its billboards and advertisements mentioning the software.

In a statement, the foundation noted the reasons for its campaign, citing a report on a dramatic rise in STDs in 2014 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We are unfortunately now waging an uphill battle on this front," said Whitney Engeran Cordova, a senior director at the foundation. "The CDC also noted the majority of these infections are affecting young people - the demographic that is on their mobile phones all day long.”

Tinder on Thursday declined to comment on the cease and desist letter, but said in a statement, "An important aspect of any healthy relationship - whether formed on Tinder or otherwise - is ensuring sexual health and safety. While the CDC, who conducted the largest and most credible study on the topic, has never identified any connection that supports the idea that Tinder usage correlates with, let alone causes, an increase in STDs, we’re of course in favor of organizations that provide public education resources on the topic."

A free STD locator from the company Healthvana is available on Tinder's website under the health and safety section and under the frequently asked questions on the mobile application.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Chinese firm buys majority of gay dating app Grindr

BEIJING - A Chinese gaming firm has bought a controlling stake in the hugely popular US gay dating app Grindr, despite homosexuality remaining a sensitive subject in the Asian giant.

Grindr, which calls itself "the largest network for gay men in the world", has millions of users globally. It is renowned for facilitating hook-ups, helping potential partners connect via photos, messaging and location details.

Its search criteria include body type, ethnicity or "Tribe": Bear, Clean-Cut, Daddy, Discreet, Geek, Jock, Leather, Otter, Poz, Rugged, Trans or Twink.

Beijing Kunlun Tech's soared 10 percent -- their daily limit -- on the Shenzhen stock exchange on Tuesday after it announced the $93 million deal.

Grindr is already available in China, and in a statement to the exchange Kunlun Tech -- one of China's biggest designers and operators of online games -- suggested it might be interested in the company as much for its networking technology, as for its particular niche specialisation.

"This investment in a social networking platform will further improve the company's strategic layout in the global Internet market," the statement said.

It added that its own experience operating Internet products in overseas markets, such as games, would help Grindr's business grow.

Los Angeles-based Grindr was founded in 2009 and the gay dating application -- versions of which are tailored for Apple or Android devices -- says it has more than two million daily active users in 196 countries.

Its 10 most active territories do not include China, where it competes with other foreign gay dating apps such as Jack'd as well as hugely popular homegrown options such as Blued and Zank, which sport interfaces similar to their international counterparts.

Blued says its app has been downloaded by 17 million users in mainland China, and another five million overseas.

- 'Vote of confidence' -China only officially decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, and listed it as a mental illness for another four years.

More recently tolerance has grown in larger Chinese cities, but conservative attitudes remain deeply engrained and discrimination against gays and lesbians is common.

In a company blog post, Grindr founder and chief executive Joel Simkhai touted the investment as "a huge vote of confidence in our vision to connect gay men to even more of the world around them".

The six-year-old start-up agreed to the purchase to accelerate growth and improve the mobile application for its users, according to Simkhai.

Simkhai founded Grindr with his own money and said it was the first time the firm had sold shares to an outside investor.

The deal -- which is subject to US anti-trust approval -- is for a 60 percent stake in Grindr, and Kunlun Tech will appoint three of the five members the US app's board, including its billionaire head Zhou Yahui, who will become its chairman.

Tuesday's share price jump took Kunlun Tech's market capitalization to 1.13 billion yuan ($170 million).

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Group date? There are apps for that

Move over Tinder -- a crop of dating apps in smartphone-addicted Asia is offering to recruit friends for group dates or send along a chaperone to steer the course of romance.

While dating apps developed in the West encourage one-on-one, often no-strings-attached meetings, many in Asia are as much about old-school courtship or friendship in a region where meeting a stranger in a bar can still be a taboo.

"My upbringing was very close to my parents, religious, traditional and old-fashioned. You couldn't go on dates if your parents didn't know the guy," said Valenice Balace, who developed the Peekawoo service in the Philippines two years ago.

"I grew up with chaperoned dates and even when I was in college my kid sister was always with me on dates."

Too shy to make eye contact in bars as a singleton, the 26-year-old turned to apps similar to Tinder, which boasts tens of millions of active users, where photos of potential matches are instantly liked or rejected.

But after one man suggested he come to her house after their first online conversation, Balace realized the set-up was not for her.

And so the Filipina entrepreneur created an app which not only discouraged users from meeting one-on-one but also offered a chaperone service for those who requested it.

As Peekawoo expanded -– it now has around 7,000 members -– it was no longer practical for the small company to provide a chaperone for every couple who asked for one, and so Balace's team started organizing meetups instead.

It is a model shared by Hong Kong-based app Grouvly, which sets up groups of six people for dates.

'Hard to meet people'

"When I came to Asia, I realised it was hard to meet people," explains Colombian-born CEO Camilo Paredes.

"I also realized that most of the Asians were somewhat shy, they're not confrontational, they don't put themselves out there."

His solution was to mimic American Grouper, which matches two people according to the information on their Facebook profiles, then asks them to bring two friends with them to a bar for a six-person meet up.

While the majority of pairings are men meeting women, there is also the option of all-male or all-female dates.

"One-on-one can be super awkward. Two-on-two is still slightly awkward, but three-on-three is the magic number," says Paredes.

Alongside expats, Hong Kongers now make up 50 percent of Grouvly's users. In Singapore, most users are locals and there are plans to roll out the service to Japan, South Korea, Australia and China.

"For me, if somebody else likes the guy, they can have them," says Aly, a 24-year-old blogger from the UK and Grouvly regular.

"Ok, they're nice, but I've met them for what, two hours? I'm not going to cry about it."

Aly finds these apps can be as much about making friends as looking for love, with Peekawoo's founder saying this change of focus also allows women to take back control.

"There was one Peekawoo event where a Filipino-American guy offended a Filipina girl by asking her to go home with him," Balace remembered.

"I told her, 'I'm proud of you'. We told the guy what he did was wrong, and we never invited him again."

'Sign of promiscuity'
Even if the Singapore-based Paktor -- which claims 3.5 million registered users -- is less averse to hook ups, it has recently also added functions such as group chats.

"People either organise a group meeting or they reach out to one person in that chat to have a conversation with them," explains Joseph Phua, 31, co-founder of the app.

"It's true that people here tend to be more reserved, less direct," he added. "Asian society feels failure or rejection more strongly, it's just part of the fabric of society. That carries on into the dating space as well."

While apps are being created or tweaked to adapt to tamer local sensibilities, others like China's WeChat can lead to casual trysts with a location-based "Shake" function.

But meeting a partner online in a global hub like Hong Kong still remains less common than in the West -- despite 62.80 percent of people owning a smartphone, according to Google figures.

A 2011 survey led by Emil Ng Man-Lun of Hong Kong University's Family Institute found that just five percent of locals had met a partner online or via an app, compared to 22 percent of Americans, according to Stanford University research published that year.

"Our impression is that this is rising. But by how much it is rising, we are not sure yet," Ng says.

"People think they are a sign of promiscuity. They worry that they get into intimacy too early, without sufficient time for knowing each other. It seems, however, that these theories have not stopped people from using them."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com