Category: All Gay

Study: Grindr And Jack’d Could Allow Hackers To Steal Users’ Data

Posted on February 8, 2018

Data-leakageGAY STAR NEWS – Feb 6 – A postgraduate student has published evidence showing gay dating apps Grindr and Jack’d have a major data flaw that could allow hackers to steal users’ personal data. Jason Chao says he can prove the apps are not encrypting data sent to third party advertisers. This allows anyone to intercept the data transfer, and steal it. ‘I am not the first one to discover Grindr and Jack’d being leaky. Researchers at a Japanese university were the first ones to point out the issue of both apps sending unencrypted data to third-party advertisers. However, they only saw evidence of device models and carrier names being susceptible to hackers. But in my study, I also found personal data is accessible too.’

by Jamie Wareham
See full article at Gay Star News

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Q&A With Ollie Locke, Co-founder Of Chappy

Posted on February 8, 2018

Chappy ollie locke linkedinTHE MEMO – Feb 6 – Locke rose to fame as a TV personality after he appeared in the first season of E4's Made in Chelsea, during which he became the first person to come out as bisexual on British TV. Outside of his TV work, Locke wrote the best-selling book Laid in Chelsea, and in 2016 launched gay dating app Chappy along with co-founders Jack Rogers and Max Cheremkhin.

Q: What apps do you use to be more productive?
A: I'm a huge advocate of Slack. It's a great way for me and the team to stay on top of all the various projects we're working on.

Q: What book have you read that has inspired you?
A: I'm currently reading Straight Jacket by Matthew Todd and Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future by Ashlee Vance. Elon is a huge inspiration for me, and Matthew Todd's personal experience helps me further understand the Chappy audience.

Q: What advice would you give for people who are eager to get into your industry?
A: You must have heart and compassion.

Q: What do you think your industry will look like in 10 years?
A: I predict a far more 360° approach to digital dating as dating apps start to really explore building lifestyle brands.

by Oliver Smith
See full article at The Memo

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Gay Dating App Blued Raised $100M

Posted on February 5, 2018

Blued fb pageDEALSTREET ASIA – Feb 5 – Blued secures $100m in Series D funding round. The latest round was led by CDH Investments and UG Capital Investment, marking the seventh round of financing. Launched in 2012, Blued has become one of the world's most popular free gay social apps, attracting ~15M users worldwide. Blued CEO Geng Le said the company will make further efforts to optimize and upgrade products and services.

by Mars Woo
See full article at Dealstreet Asia

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

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Google Pulled Gay Dating App Blued From Indonesia Online Store

Posted on February 2, 2018

Blued logoCHANNEL NEWS ASIA – Jan 31 – Google has pulled one of the world's largest gay dating apps from the Indonesian version of its online store in response to government demands. Officials had called for the tech giant to remove 73 LGBT-related apps, including dating services, from its Play Store and urged people to shun apps that broke with cultural norms in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation. Gay dating app Blued – which boasts ~27M users globally – no longer appeared in the Google Play Store available to Indonesian users. Apple's online store still has Blued available.

The full article was originally published at Channel News Asia, but is no longer available.

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Grindr Not Responsible For Offensive Profiles, Court Says

Posted on January 30, 2018

Lawsuit dismissed nov 14LAW360 – Jan 25 – A New York federal judge has tossed the bulk of a lawsuit accusing dating app Grindr of lacking safety features that would have prevented a "malicious" impersonation scheme by an ex-boyfriend, saying Grindr isn't responsible for users' behavior.

by Rachel Graf
See full article at Law360

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Made In Chelsea’s Ollie Locke Made An App For ‘Mr Right’ AND ‘Mr Right Now’

Posted on January 26, 2018

Chappy logoTHE MEMO – Jan 24 – Until recently, the same-sex dating scene was dominated by Grindr, Hornet and SCRUFF – all of which struggle with an overt hookup culture. Chappy, co-founded by Made in Chelsea's Ollie Locke, is an attempt to fight back with his gay dating app Chappy. He says gay men deserve better. "By using Chappy, users commit to treating their fellow members with respect, kindness and honesty, without judgment or bias." Because of Facebook connection, everyone is more accountable for their actions. Mr Right or Mr Right Now is Chappy's sliding scale of what you're looking for. Something serious, or something more spontaneous. Chappy already has 150K monthly active users who've collectively swiped ~600M times across the UK and US since launch.

by Oliver Smith
See full article at The Memo

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Indonesia’s IT Ministry Asking Google To Block Blued And Other LGBT Networking Apps

Posted on January 20, 2018

Lgbt-ban-flagCOCONUTS – Jan 18 – Indonesia's IT Ministry has filed a request to Google to block ~70 LGBT social networking apps from being available to download in the country through the Google Play Store. The ministry is unable to block the apps themselves as they are all available under Google's platform. One of the apps was Blued, a gay dating and social networking app that claims to have 27M users worldwide. Google has not released any statement on the matter.

See full article at Coconuts

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LGBTQ Themed Ads Garner More Brand Trust, Study Found

Posted on January 18, 2018

Hornet logo June 16HORNET BLOG – Jan 17 – Hornet, the gay social network, has released its first-ever research with Nielsen around the efficacy of LGBTQ-themed branded advertising on the LGBTQ consumer. The custom study examines advertising content across various industries including consumer packaged goods, hospitality, automotive and banking.

Amongst its key findings:

  • 60% of people exposed to LGBTQ-themed ads labeled them as "progressive and inclusive"
  • Purchase impact from LGBTQ-themed ads is 44% higher
  • 75% of the LGBTQ-themed ads tested outperform generic ads in driving brand recall

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See full article at Hornet Blog

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Grindr Is Making People Feel Unhappy, According To New Data

Posted on January 16, 2018

Grindr on a phoneGAY TIMES – Jan 15 – Time Well Spent have conducted some new research which polled 200k iPhone users about their app usage. Their main objective was to find out which apps left users feeling the most happy or unhappy. Mindfulness apps like Calm and Headspace ranked highly when it came to the apps which left users feeling most happy. Google Calendar, MyFitnessPal and Audible also placed highly on the list. However, gay dating app Grindr topped the list of apps which left users feeling unhappy. 77% of Grindr users feel miserable after using the app. Candy Crush Saga placed second with 71%, while Facebook is in the third with 64%. Time Well Spent has suggested that it's not necessarily the Grindr that is making users unhappy, but rather the amount of time they spend on it. Those who said that Grindr left them feeling unhappy admitted that they used the app for more than an hour everyday.

by Lewis Corner
See full article at Gay Times

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Hornet Announces LGBT Foundation & ICO

Posted on January 15, 2018

Hornet LGBT TokenHORNET BLOG – Jan 13 – Hornet, the gay social network, launches an LGBT Foundation, a not-for-profit organization for the global good of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The LGBT Foundation will conduct an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in the Q1 2018 to raise funds and allocate cryptocurrency tokens to private investors and individual participants.

See full article at Hornet Blog

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