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
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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.
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.
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.
DAILYMAIL.CO.UK – May 31 – The average Briton spends 22 hours and 45 minutes a week online, according to Ofcom study. ~18 of those hours are spent on mobiles. One in ten Britons still never uses the Internet at all. The average Briton looks at their phone every 12 minutes. Women spend longer on their phones than men, an average of 33 minutes more every day. And Britons are willing to spend more money on apps that will help them in the pursuit of love and sex than anything else, Ofcom's study suggests. Two of the top three apps that Internet users spent money on were for dating. Tinder topped the list, followed by TV and movie streaming service Netflix. The third was dating app Bumble.
by Katherine Rushton & Tim Stickings
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk
BRUSSELS TIMES – May 8 – Brussels' correctional court has ruled against dating site RichMeetBeautiful, declaring it guilty of "encouraging sexual immorality or prostitution". The site's owner, Sigurd Vedal, was dealt a suspended six-month prison sentence and ordered to pay ~€200K fine. The ruling follows a 2017 lawsuit after the site targeted students at the Free University of Brussels with controversial ads. The court slapped an additional €240K fine on the site's parent company, Digisec Media Limited, ordering it to pay an additional amount to the university for damages. The site remains blocked in Belgium.
EU STARTUPS – May 6 – Frankfurt-based startup Go Crush is a dating app that allows people to meet in groups. Dr. Jost Schwaner, the ex-CEO of Elitepartner, has just invested a mid-five-figure sum in Go Crush. The team plans to raise another €500K in September, after raising €250K last year. Founded in 2017, Go Crush so far has ~50k registered users in Germany.
by Mary Loritz
See full article at EU Startups
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IRISH POST – Apr 16 – Right after its recently launch in the UK and Ireland, the app made it to the top charts in Apple Store, beating its top competitors in overall download numbers. It is considered to be one of the fastest growing dating apps. "The most interesting things on Hily happen when a user actively engages with the application, swipes left or right, writes messages, sends bubbles," says Hily's co-founder Yan Pronin. "Based on this information, Hily identifies the interests and preferences of each user – things like who this person really likes and which potential matches will generate the best quality interaction."
BBC – Apr 8 – Internet sites could be fined or blocked if they fail to tackle "online harms" such as terrorist propaganda, child abuse, harassment, cyber-bullying and the sale of illegal goods, under new government plans. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has proposed an independent watchdog that will write a "code of practice" for tech companies. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said tech giants and social media companies had a moral duty "to protect the young people they profit from". The plans call for an independent regulator to hold Internet companies to account. It would be funded by the tech industry. The government is considering fines for individual company executives and making search engines remove links to offending websites. It is also consulting over blocking harmful websites. But all sorts of issues has yet to be settled. Rebecca Stimson, Facebook's head of UK policy, said: "New regulations are needed so that we have a standardised approach across platforms and private companies aren't making so many important decisions alone."