TECHNODE – Dec 3 – Personal data from 30M users of China's top dating app Momo is reportedly being sold for as little as RMB 200 (~$30). A Weibo user posted a series of screenshots from the Chinese dark web entitled "database of 30M Momo users" with a comment saying: "Momo's database is quite cheap." According to the screenshots, data on offer includes phone numbers and passwords. The data are from 2015.
Month: December 2018
Why Young Japanese Are Dating Less Than Before
Ponder’s Pitch on Meet the Drapers
OPW – Dec 2 – Ponder is a friend-to-friend matchmaking app that uses blockchain to pay for referrals. The app is running a crowdfunding campaign. Ponder’s founder & CEO Manshu Agarwal pitched his app on TV show Meet the Drapers.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com.
Delta App – India’s First Homegrown Dating App For LGBTQ
INDIATIMES – Dec 2 – The Delta App is India's first homegrown LGBT app for meeting and dating people. This app aims to provide a safe and secure environment for people from the LGBTQ community to date and network. It has a trust score system where people get perks for creating more trustworthy profiles.
Ex Tinder Worker Swipes Left on Arbitrating Harassment Suit
LAW360 – Dec 1 – Elizabeth Sanfilippo, a former Tinder employee who accused the dating app company of sexual harassment and retaliation, asked a California federal judge to keep her lawsuit in court, arguing that she is not bound by an arbitration agreement she signed almost six months after she first reported her claims to human resources. Elizabeth Sanfilippo was a brand marketing manager at Tinder from Sep 2016 to July 2017 when she says she was fired after experiencing sexual harassment. She filed suit against Tinder in August. But Tinder said the lawsuit is not appropriate, citing a mutual arbitration agreement that Sanfilippo signed in Jan 2017 while still an employee at Tinder after the company was acquired by Match. Tinder said Sanfilippo was fired for "legitimate, business and non-discriminatory reasons."
Japan’s Rakuten Sells Matchmaking Unit O-net to Polaris Capital
DEAL STREET ASIA – Nov 30 – Japan's e-commerce giant Rakuten has offloaded its entire stake in O-net, one of the country's largest matchmaking services, to Japanese private equity firm Polaris Capital for an undisclosed amount. O-net was founded in 1980 as OMMG and acquired by the e-commerce giant in 2007. The sale involves 280K shares, or 100% interest, in O-net, with the acquisition expected to be completed by the end of this year. O-net, which currently employs ~500 people, is engaged in marriage matchmaking services, event planning and management, publishing, and other businesses related to marriage service. As of last year, it had 46K members.
by Mars Woo
See full article at Deal Street Asia
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Singletons Will Be Matched on Their DNA By 2025, Say Researchers
SOCIALNEWS DAILY – Nov 30 – Scientists from Imperial College London and dating site eHarmony say that by 2025, couples could be paired up in labs, based on their genes. Our DNA plays an important role in choosing our mate. Especially our major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, which controls our immune system and are believed to unconsciously affect who we're attracted to. Researchers theorised that dating sites could use the information to anticipate which users would be attracted to each other, both online and in person.
by Sophie Lloyd
See full article at SocialNews Daily
Do Americans Marry for Love or Money?
Facebook Considered Charging for Access to User Data
WALL STREET JOURNAL – Nov 30 – Internal emails show Facebook considered charging companies for continued access to user data several years ago. The emails in the document also indicate that Facebook employees discussed pushing some advertisers to spend more in return for increased access to user information. At a congressional hearing in April, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "I can't be clearer on this topic: We don't sell data."
by Deepa Seetharaman & Kirsten Grind
See full article at Wall Street Journal
Work Culture at Plenty of Fish
OPW – Nov 3 – Plenty of Fish (POF) is one of the largest global online dating companies; Vancouver-headquartered tech success story and now one of the top revenue-driving brands in the Match Group.