Month: July 2025

Hack Exposes Thousands of Images From Tea Dating Advice

Posted on July 28, 2025

HackedBBC – Hackers breached Tea Dating Advice, a US women-only safety app with 1.6M users, gaining unauthorized access to 72K user-submitted images, some showing photo ID, and an additional 59K historical images of posts, comments, and messages. The breach affected members who joined before Feb 2024. Despite Tea's policy to delete verification photos, some were exposed. The app, launched in 2022 to help women vet men and flag red or green behavior, has faced criticism for being anti-men. Tea claims breached photos aren't linked to posts and says it's working with cybersecurity experts to secure the platform.

See full article at BBC

Curated by the Courtland Brooks team

India’s Dating Apps Struggle to Grow as Investors Stay Cautious

Posted on July 28, 2025

India's Dating Apps Struggle to Grow as Investors Stay CautiousSTORYBOARD 18 – India's dating app market has raised $21M so far, with funding peaking in 2015 and picking up slowly since 2020. But investors remain careful due to high user dropout rates, expensive marketing costs, and tough competition from global giants like Tinder and Bumble. Only 1% of users pay for premium features, and most apps lose users quickly after sign-up. Local players like TrulyMadly, Juleo, Flutrr are trying new ideas like meme-based matching and offline events to attract Gen Z.

See full article at Storyboard 18

Curated by the Courtland Brooks team

OFF TOPIC: Mark Brooks’ Story

Posted on July 26, 2025

MARK BROOKS – I've run Online Personals Watch and Courtland Brooks since 2004. Some of you may have heard of my battle with flesh-eating disease in Dubai last year. Here's a video interview with the brilliant surgeon (Dr Mohan Rangaswamy) who saved my life and my arm.

Quick Summary & Learnings

  • If you feel ill, go see a doctor! I'd be dead if I chose to 'duke it out' another night.
  • People die from necrotizing fasciitis because its advance is not obvious
  • Sometimes survival depends on the initial surgeon being 'not timid'
  • If you have a traumatic injury, bring in a reconstructive cosmetic surgeon early
  • Don't overdo it at the gym. 45 minutes is plenty.

I'm 24 operations in, and had 9 weeks in hospital, and there are 6 more operations planned. I'm working (slowly) on a book called 'Eaten Alive' with the underlying message of 'don't let life eat you alive.' 🙂

Strangely, I feel significantly mentally stronger and more physically resilient having been through this ordeal. I look forward to many more years serving you with OPW and Courtland Brooks, along with our monthly online mini-conference, LTR. 😉

Ditto Raises $1.6 Million

Posted on July 25, 2025
Ditto AI

TRADED – Ditto raised $1.6M to scale its AI-driven dating platform, which skips swiping and texting by automatically selecting matches and scheduling IRL dates. In its first three months, it reports 12,000 users and 6,000+ in-person dates, with a large waitlist.

See full article at Traded

Tea App Turns Dating Into Surveillance, Not Safety, Experts Warn

Posted on July 25, 2025

Tea logoBUSINESS INSIDER – Tea, a women-only dating review app, lets users post anonymous feedback, run background checks, and flag men as red or green, claiming to promote safety – but critics argue it enables public shaming, legal risk, and false accusations. Inspired by whisper networks and Facebook groups like "Are We Dating the Same Guy?", Tea and similar apps (e.g. RAW) commercialize informal vetting while raising privacy and defamation concerns. Founder Sean Cook says Tea receives multiple legal threats daily. Experts warn that such platforms offload safety burdens onto women and fail to address the systemic causes of harmful dating behavior.

See full article at Business Insider

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Dutch Watchdog Postpones Ruling on Apple Fees on Dating Apps

Posted on July 25, 2025
The Apple logo displayed on a glass facade, reflecting surrounding trees.

REUTERS – The Dutch antitrust regulator ACM has postponed its decision on Apple’s App Store fees for dating apps, pending ongoing discussions between Apple and the European Commission. Apple has recently adjusted its rates and plans further changes. A Dutch court previously confirmed that Apple had abused its dominant position by imposing unfair conditions on dating app providers.

See full article at Reuters

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Internet Dating Jobs Listing Update – July 2025

Posted on July 25, 2025

Internet dating jobs logoOPW – The new Internet dating jobs listing is live on the Internet Dating Jobs blog.

Below, see a couple of this month's most interesting offers:

Bumble
  Director, Public Policy & Corporate Affairs

Grindr
  Director, Strategic Brand Partnerships

Hinge
  Director, Senior Counsel

Match Group
  Senior Director, Corporate Communications

Muzz
  Head of Growth

ParshipMeet Group
  Vice President Financial Accounting

Social Discovery Ventures
  Chief of Product

Tinder
  Director, Product Analytics

To see more open positions, go here.

Do you have an idating industry job offer that is not included? Please, send it to tips@onlinepersonalswatch.com and we will add it to the list.

Dating Apps to Add Age Checks in the UK

Posted on July 24, 2025

Age verification is comingMASHABLE – Starting July 25, dating apps in the UK must implement age verification under the Online Safety Act. Feeld will use Yoti to confirm user age via phone number or selfie, without storing personal data. Tinder will require a clear face photo and may request ID if age can't be verified. Bumble says it already enforces strict age checks and uses selfie and ID verification. Hinge will scan a face photo to confirm users are 18+, storing it for up to three months, with results kept for a year. Rollouts in the U.S. and EU may follow based on regional laws.

See full article at Mashable

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Study Finds 1 in 4 Teens Use Dating Apps With No Major Mental Health Impact

Posted on July 24, 2025


1 in 4 Teens Use Dating Apps With No Major Mental Health ImpactNORTHWESTERN NOW – A Northwestern Medicine study tracking 149 teens aged 13-18 over six months found that 23.5% used dating apps, including Tinder, Yubo, Hinge, Bumble, and Pdbee. Despite higher initial rates of risky behavior among users, there were no significant differences in depression or social anxiety between users and non-users at follow-up. Most teen users identified as sexual or gender minorities, suggesting these apps may offer social support. The study used the Effortless Assessment Research System to passively track real-time keyboard activity and was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Morgan Stanley Foundation.

See full article at Northwestern Now

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Tinder Uses AI to Secretly Pick the Best Profile Photo

Posted on July 24, 2025

TinderAIM – Tinder now uses AI to help pick a user's best profile photo by scanning their pictures directly on their phone. It finds the most flattering images and suggests which ones to use, all without uploading anything online. The goal is to quietly boost matches by making profiles look better, without the user needing to do anything.

See full article at AIM

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team