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TechTank: Ways to Protect Your Privacy and Security With Online Dating Apps

Darrell West
Monday, January 11, 2021, 12:13 PM

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

Online dating apps like Tinder collect a large amount of personal information on their users. Tinder’s privacy policy clearly states your data may be used to deliver “targeted advertising.” Even a step beyond that, the policy says “you should not expect that your personal information, chats, or other communications will always remain secure.”

Your online data affects what job offers you have access to on LinkedIn, how much you pay for insuring your car, ads you will see on YouTube and if you can get approved for a loan.

The lack of a national privacy standard and the weakness of security guidelines leave many online daters with inadequate protections and creates regulatory uncertainty for the dating apps and websites themselves. So in the meantime, how can people using online dating apps protect their privacy and security?

In this episode, Darrell West, Caitlin Chin and Mishaela Robison discuss the risks on dating apps and what can be done to improve personal safety.

You can listen to the episode and subscribe to the TechTank podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Acast.


Topics:
Darrell M. West is vice president and director of Governance Studies and holds the Douglas Dillon Chair. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of TechTank. His current research focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, and the future of work. West is also director of the John Hazen White Manufacturing Initiative.

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