MEDIANAMA – July 12 – The French Senate has approved a digital tax, known as "Les GAFA" – Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, on digital companies that have a revenue of more than €25M in France, and more than €750M worldwide. This bill is likely to be signed into law by French President Emmanuel Macron within two weeks. The tax is expected to yield €400M in 2019, and €650M in 2020. It will affect ~30 companies, including GAFA, Meetic, Criteo, Instagram, and Airbnb. Other EU countries, including Austria, the UK, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Italy have also announced plans for their own digital taxes.
Category: All UK & Europe
Parship 2018 Financial Results
DEUTCHE STARTUPS – July 8 – Hamburg-based dating company Parship has generated ~125M euros in revenue in 2018. 93% of sales are attributable to the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The profit was 32.4M Eur, up from 18.6M in 2017.
10 Years of LGBT Love: What’s Really Changed?
BBC – July 5 – The London Pride parade will take place on Saturday 6 July in central London, followed by Black Pride on Sunday 7 July in Hackney. While plenty of people head to Pride to celebrate, recent news events, including the attacks on a lesbian couple on a London bus, show why Pride is still so important for the community. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots – the ceremonial beginning of the LGBT rights movement – and the 10-year anniversary of Grindr. "Online dating and hook-up apps have been an absolute win for the LGBT community," says relationship expert Dr Darcy Sterling. One recent US study suggests that two-thirds of LGBT couples meet online. Another important shift has been the demise of gay bars and LGBT spaces. In just over a decade, from 2006 to 2017, the number of bars, clubs and pubs for LGBT people in London dropped from 125 to 53. Racism within the LGBT community is another issue that is starting to be talked about more openly. Last year, Grindr launched a campaign, Kindr, encouraging its users to be nicer to each other. The legalisation of same-sex marriage in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014 – along with ~20 other countries between 2009 and 2019 – has seen tens of thousands of same-sex couples getting hitched.
Half of Dutch Young Adults Use Dating Apps
NLTIMES – June 25 – Nearly half of Dutch between the ages of 18 and 34 are active on dating sites or apps like Tinder, Happn and Grindr. Just over half of all Dutch think that getting a date online is just as normal as using more traditional methods, according to a survey among 1K Dutch people by research agency Ipsos, and researched by Rutgers and the Volkskrant. In total, one in five Dutch have an online dating profile. Tinder is the most popular dating app, with 13% of Dutch using it, followed by Happn with 3% and Grindr with 2%.
by Janene Pieters
See full article at NLTimes
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Tech Companies ‘Must Take Responsibility’ for Dating App Safety
IRISH TIMES – June 25 – Tech companies must take responsibility for the use of their apps by sexual predators and not leave it up to women to take extra measures to keep themselves safe, the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) has said. "Women should be able to use dating apps without fearing for their safety," said NWCI director Orla O'Connor following the jailing of rapist Patrick Nevin. He was jailed on Monday for 12 years for attacking three women in the space of 11 days after meeting them on Tinder. Dublin Senator Catherine Noone called for all sex offenders to be banned from using dating apps for life, saying it was "common sense" to restrict these people from interacting with others online. "People should always take precautions on dating apps but they should also expect some level of security vetting when using these apps. By introducing measures that will ban individuals convicted of a sexual crime, we can begin to provide this level of security."
Tinder’s Data Sharing Endangers Russian LGBTQ Community
USA TODAY – June 14 – This month, Russia's telecoms regulator, the Roskomnadzor, added Tinder to a list of websites and apps that it forces to store user data, messages and pictures on government-accessible Russian servers. The agency can then offer that data up to law enforcement and intelligence services on demand. If Tinder agrees to provide this information, its users in Russia will have no meaningful sense of privacy on the app. This data collection policy puts Tinder's commitments in conflict. On one hand, users agree to a privacy policy that states that Tinder can share their information to "comply with a legal process." On the other, the company has a commitment to its users and stakeholders. Its privacy web page directly says Tinder does not "compromise with your privacy." Sharing data with the Russian government would seriously endanger Tinder's LGBTQ user base. In 2013, the federal government in Moscow passed legislation broadly banning gay "propaganda" directed at minors. In practice, this law has shut down LGBTQ health education and support services, contributed to a rise in homophobic violence and silenced LGBTQ rights organizations.
Russmedia Acquires Majority Stake in Hungarian Dating Site Randivonal
DER BRUTKASTEN – June 6 – The Austrian company Russmedia International acquires the majority stake in Randivonal, a Hungarian online dating site. Founded in 1999, Randivonal is Hungary's leading online dating site today. The company is headquartered in Budapest and employs 25 people.
See full article at Der Brutkasten
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Tinder Users Perceived as Less Trustworthy, Study Finds
PSYPOST – June 5 – People tend to view Tinder users as untrustworthy, according to new research from Germany. But the study in Computers in Human Behavior suggests that this anti-Tinder effect wears off over time. Tinder still has a reputation as a "hook-up" app. An initial online survey of 223 participants found that Tinder users were rated as less trustworthy than Parship users, who in turn were rated as less trustworthy than Facebook users.
Tinder Denies Sharing Russian Users’ Data With FSB
THE MOSCOW TIMES – June 4 – Tinder has denied sharing the personal data of its Russian users amid reports that it had been added to a registry of entities required to hand over such data to the authorities. Russia said on Monday it had added Tinder to a list of entities required to hand over user data and messages to law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Security Service (FSB) on demand. The move means that Tinder will be required to store users' metadata on servers inside Russia for at least six months as well as their text, audio or video messages. Tinder has agreed to be added to the Russian government’s database of information providers to comply with federal legislation. "However, this registration does not in any way imply the passing of any user or personal data to any Russian regulatory authority," said the Tinder spokesperson.
Russian Authorities Ask Tinder to Hand Over User Data
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – June 3 – On Monday, authorities confirmed that Tinder had been reclassified as an "information provider". Under Russia's controversial anti-terrorism legislation, that means that the tech company will now be required to store and hand over user data: encryption passwords, geolocation details, photo and video content. While Tinder currently encrypts messages, the company's own terms state that user data can be handed over on request from security services. Russia's security services want to make that process automatic. Tinder has yet to comment on the change, but may be blocked if it does not comply with the request. Two of the country's most popular sites – Mamba and Wamba – were added to the state information register in 2014. Badoo followed three years later.