RECODE.NET – Sep 16 - Online Buddies is launching Dandy, a newly acquired German dating app along the lines of Tinder’s “hot-or-not” swiping style. Dandy joins Online Buddies’ portfolio of companies, including the newish Jack’d and Manhunt.
by Nellie Bowles
See full article at Recode.net
HUFFINGTON POST – Sep 10 – The privacy and security of location-based apps has become a major concern for smartphone users around the globe. Grindr security glitch exposes gay users in regions that criminalize homosexuality. Any app that shows relative distance between members can be used to pinpoint the location. It is called "trilateration". When a user elects to hide his distance on SCRUFF, the app not only remove the information from his profile, but they also randomize his location on their servers. In addition, SCRUFF partnered with ILGA, a non-profit that publishes an annual report of gay and lesbian rights worldwide. Coming soon, when a user travels to a country included in the ILGA report and launches SCRUFF, he will see an alert informing him of the presence of local laws criminalizing homosexual activity.
NEXT MAGAZINE – Aug 29 – Jack’d has polled its 5M users recently. 80% of their users are ages 18 to 25. 40% of them are actively looking for long-term relationships, according to the poll. “What we found was surprising”, said Adam Segel, CEO of Jack’d. “I’m 42, and when I was growing up, you couldn’t think about getting married. We were meeting in bars where all the windows were blacked over.” He noted that people write a lot about themselves on Jack’d. They write about concerts, books they’ve read, musicians they’ve liked. It then leads to entirely different opening lines.
by Benjamin Lindsay
The full article was originally published at The Next Magazine, but is no longer available.
WINDY CITY TIMES – Sep 10 – Online Buddies, parent company of gay dating site Manhunt.net and social-dating app Jack'd, announced the acquisition of the gay mobile app Dandy.
by Andrew Davis
See full article at Windy City Times
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VOCATIV – Sep 9 – A setting allowing users to show the distance between one another had been disabled in several countries with anti-gay legislation. Egyptian authorities were using it to locate and arrest homosexuals. The proximity feature of the app allows users to detect other users’ location to within approximately 100 feet.
AMERICA BLOG – Aug 26 - Grindr is facing accusations that a glitch in its system is giving away the actual location of its users to anyone with a Web connection. Grindr has responded, claiming that the ability to identity the location of its users isn’t a security flaw, but rather, something they intended all along. Many Grindr users give permission for their general location to be known to other Grindr users. But while the app shows that users are, say, “1000 feet” from a nearby user, it does not show the direction of the other user. The “flaw,” however, uses triangulation to permit anyone to determine the actual location of that user within ~100 feet.
NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL- Aug 12 - Grindr is battling a suit brought by a man who alleges the site’s lax age restrictions led him to have a liaison with an underage boy, for which he now faces criminal charges. According to the suit, the 13-year-old was allowed to become a paying member of Grindr even though the site restricts access for persons under age 18. The suit alleges Grindr was negligent for failing to ensure that its members are over the age of majority and for negligently training its employees, agents and representatives. Grindr has filed a motion to dismiss based on the Communications Decency Act that immunizes providers of interactive computer services against liability for information provided by other parties.
by Charles Toutant
See full article at New Jersey Law Journal
PR NEWSWIRE – Aug 12 – As the public relations agency of record, MWW through its LGBT marketing practice will bring attention to Scruff using a multi-pronged communications program that will feature strategic media relations and the leveraging of Scruff's global community to support various philanthropic outreach.
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – July 10 - Grindr is the world's most popular dating app for gay men. The app is now 5 years old. Using GPS, Grindr shows users men in their vicinity looking to meet other men. The app is currently launching a redesign. The redesign makes the profiles even simpler, with, on the first page, only a picture.
