US NEWS – Mar 11 – An OkCupid survey found that 88% of people globally are continuing their dating as normal despite the spread of COVID-19. The number is even higher in the U.S., where 92% of Americans have continued to date as normal. Italians are least likely to go on dates, with just 45% of residents continuing to date as usual. Italy has been hit the hardest outside of mainland China with nearly 10,150 people diagnosed with the virus.
Category: OkCupid
OkCupid India: We Facilitate 25K Coffee Dates Per Week
OkCupid Adds Climate Change Questions
Capture of Dating Site Profiles Prompts Suit Against AI Firm
BLOOMBERG LAW – Feb 14 – AI company Clarifai allegedly created a "face database" of OkCupid users to train its facial recognition tools, according to plaintiff Jordan Stein's complaint. Stein claims Clarifai worked with an investor tied to OkCupid to gain access to the data. The complaint follows Facebook's $550M settlement to end biometric privacy claims made under the same Illinois law. Plaintiffs' attorneys are using the law to go after tech companies that allegedly use biometric data, including facial recognition, without consent. Under the Illinois law, companies can face up to $5K for each willful violation. Companies including IBM, Clearview AI, and Alphabet's Google are currently facing actions under the law for allegedly using facial recognition data without consent. "OkCupid did not enter into any commercial agreement at that time with Clarifai, and has no relationship with the company now," said Michael Kaye, global communications manager for the dating site.
Sam Yagan, Co-founder of OKCupid: 3 Questions That Can Predict Compatibility
BUSINESS INSIDER – Feb 14 – Sam Yagan founded OKCupid in 2003 with some friends whom he met while attending Harvard University, where he had started SparkNotes, a study-guide company. Yagan and his business partners designed OKCupid with a question-and-answer-based system to help people determine whom to date. "You can disagree on religion, you can disagree on pets, you can disagree on lots of things," Yagan said, explaining that three specific questions were the best predictors of long-term compatibility in a relationship.
Here's what they are:
- Do you enjoy horror movies?
- Have you traveled alone in a foreign country for fun?
- Have you ever wanted to chuck it all and live on a sailboat?
There’s Still no Good Dating App for Non-monogamous People
MASHABLE – Feb 5 – One in five Americans have engaged in consensual non-monogamy. And yet, there are no good dating apps for non-monogamous people. Many of the apps used by the non-monogamous community are "trash" or solely for sex, said Steve Dean, online dating consultant at Dateworking.com, a dating coaching and consulting business. Dean, whose been non-monogamous for the past nine years, referred to one called Pure, as "Uber for sex." Feeld is another one that falls into the hooking up category. Then there is #open, an app that claims to be an inclusive community for any type of user. 94% of the app's 40K users report they prefer some form of open relationship, according to #open's cofounder Amanda Wilson. The most "mainstream" app that provides a tailored experience to non-monogamous people is OkCupid. In 2016, OkCupid added a feature for polyamorous couples. It subsequently replaced its "open relationship" status option with the term "non-monogamous." Dean said OKC is the best app for non-monogamous people right now, but technical changes have made it "virtually useless." This is because a 2017 change that filtered out unwanted messages had an adverse effect.
by Anna Iovine
See full article at Mashable
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OKCupid’s International Expansion
YAHOO FINANCE – Feb 4 – OKCupid has recently been pushing into international markets by offering a more tailored type of online matchmaking, based on each country’s cultural norms and predilections. In India, a testing ground for OKCupid, downloads increased by 1.4M in the three months ended September 2019, outpacing Bumble and local Indian dating app Shaadi. Recently, OKCupid set its sights on Israel and Turkey, and will soon be launching in Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and the UK. Match Group, which declined to break out OKCupid results individually, saw direct international revenue rise 32% in the most recent quarter, or more than double its growth rate in North America.
OkCupid Launches a Politically-driven Ad Campaign
Some of the phrases displayed are:
- Could you date someone who couldn't be bothered to vote?
- Bigger turn-on: Intelligence or looks?
- It's OK to not date a man who won't vote for a woman
- It's OK for your pronouns to mean more than your profile
- It's OK to only match with someone you can march with
- It's OK to choose Mr. Right based on how far left he leans
by Emily Davenport
See full article at AmNY
Safety Tip for Online Dating Users
USA TODAY – Jan 21 – Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder were at the center of controversy last week when researchers accused the companies of disclosing highly personal information and breaking privacy laws. Each app denied many of the accusations. When users sign up for a dating app, "they're putting information out there that people can use against them. Whether it's hackers or predators," said Jo O'Reilly, a data privacy expert at ProPrivacy. And like many other tech sectors, dating apps are rife with data breaches.
Dating app tips from an Internet privacy expert:
- Be aware that free apps are more likely to sell your data.
- Use only your first name or a nickname.
- Don't give away your home address, work address, phone number or email address in private messages, or when signing up.
- Don't let other users persuade you to chat via another app like WhatsApp or Messenger.
- Turn off location settings, or use them sparingly.
- Use as little personal and identifiable information on your profile as possible.
by Dalwin Brown
See full article at USA Today
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Grindr and OkCupid Spread Personal Details, Study Says
NEW YORK TIMES – Jan 13 – Popular dating services like Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder are spreading user information like dating choices and precise location to advertising and marketing companies in ways that may violate privacy laws, according to a new report released by the Norwegian Consumer Council, a government-funded nonprofit organization in Oslo. Grindr also sent a user's location to multiple companies, which may then share that data with many other businesses, the report said. OkCupid app sent a user's ethnicity and answers to personal profile questions to a firm that helps companies tailor marketing messages to users. OkCupid has recently posted a list of ~300 advertising and analytics "partners" with which it may share users' information. Tinder sent a user's gender and the gender the user was looking to date to two marketing firms. The Norwegian group said it filed complaints asking regulators in Oslo to investigate Grindr and five ad tech companies for possible violations of the European data protection law.
by Natasha Singer & Aaron Krolik
See full article at New York Times
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