Category: OkCupid

Grindr and OkCupid Spread Personal Details, Study Says

Posted on January 14, 2020

SafetyNEW 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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OkCupid Rolls out “Ask Yourself” Global Campaign

Posted on January 7, 2020

Okcupid campaign 2020CAMPAIGN LIVE – Jan 6 – "Could you date someone who couldn't be bothered to vote?","Intelligence or looks?" – These are just some of the deal-breakers which form the basis of OkCupid's first global campaign, called "Ask Yourself". "Ask Yourself" will roll out across digital and social platforms, as well as out-of-home, in major cities around the world, starting with New York City.

by Oliver McAteer
See full article at Campaign Live

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This Is the Hottest Time of Year for Online Dating

Posted on January 2, 2020

Online dating picMARKETWATCH – Dec 31 – For many singles, the holidays are the loneliest time of year and, in the New Year, the $3B dating industry sees a surge in users. Zoosk typically sees a 20% jump in users in the first two weeks of the year and eHarmony sees a similar increase in mobile registrations since the holidays. Grindr usually experiences a 30%-plus increase in users over the holiday season. Match.com and OKCupid also see an uptick between Christmas and Valentine's Day. "Many singles sit around the family dinner table during the holidays and think, 'Maybe it would be better to have a partner," says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the editor of Online Personals Watch. "That's when they start hitting dating sites in droves and go on dates before the indigestion sets in."

by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at Marketwatch

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OkCupid Survey: Women Should Refuse to Marry Into a Family That Requires a Dowry

Posted on December 17, 2019

Okcupid india surveyHINDUSTAN TIMES – Dec 17 – 72% users of OkCupid have said that traditional gender roles, such as men being default heads of households and women taking care of chores and children or changing their names, have no place in their lives now. OkCupid revealed these statistics in its year in review report for 2019. It said that 85% of its users said that women should refuse to marry into a family that requires a dowry.

See full article at Hindustan Times

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Tinder Lets Sex Offenders Use the App

Posted on December 3, 2019

Sex offenders on dating appsPROPUBLICA – Dec 2 – Match Group screens for sexual predators on Match, but not on Tinder, OkCupid or PlentyofFish. A spokesperson said: "There are definitely registered sex offenders on our free products." Match first agreed to screen for registered sex offenders in 2011 after a lawsuit. A Match Group spokesperson said the company cannot implement a uniform screening protocol because it doesn't collect enough information from its free users, and that background checks do little more than create "a false sense of security" among users. "Our checks of the sex offender registry can only be as good as the information we receive," she said, explaining that the government databases can lack data, have old pictures or include partial information. Herb Vest, founder of dating site True.com used to pay ~ $1M a year for third-party services like rapsheets.com and backgroundchecks.com. True.com even warned subscribers that the company would sue if they misrepresented their pasts. True ultimately folded in 2013 but Mr Vest insists the cost of doing background checks didn't play a role in his company's closing. "People can't rely 100% on the sites," Vest said. "But as an industry, we could have done much better."

by Hillary Flynn, Keith Cousins & Elizabeth Naismith Picciani
See full article at ProPublica

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Online Dating Innovator Takes on Data Privacy

Posted on November 29, 2019

Keybase logoSLICE OF MIT – Nov 28 – Maxwell Krohn helped revolutionize internet dating in the early 2000s with a site he cofounded with college buddies: OkCupid. They sold the site in 2011, and Krohn began to have second thoughts about all the sensitive personal information that people were launching into the cloud. His latest venture, Keybase, tackles that problem head-on, harnessing studies in cryptography he began at MIT to create a simple but powerful platform for securing user data. Keybase, which Krohn cofounded with OkCupid veteran Chris Coyne, employs what's known as end-to-end encryption to keep user data totally secret – even from the apps through which users might share their data – so no third party can hijack it along the way. Sending information on Keybase requires both sender and recipient to have their own pair of public and private keys. Senders use recipients' public keys to encrypt the data. To ensure recipients are who they say they are, Keybase links the ownership of public keys with multiple email, Twitter, Reddit, and other social-media accounts.

by Michael Blanding
See full article at Slice of MIT

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OkCupid Kicks out White Supremacist

Posted on November 19, 2019

Okcupid logo 2018VALLIANT NEWS – Nov 18 – After a Vice documentary about last weekend's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, featured white supremacist Chris Cantwell, he was banned from Facebook. And on Thursday, he was kicked off OkCupid as well. OkCupid followed up by tweeting that "there is no room for hate in a place where you're looking for love." The site also asked users to report anyone who appears to be involved in a hate group. In the Vice documentary, Cantwell advocates for the alt-right's use to violence – during Saturday's protest and beyond – in order to create a white "ethno-state." And he describes how his views on race affect his beliefs on whom should date or marry.

by Robert Smith
See full article at Valliant News

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OkCupid CEO, Ariel Charytan, on Love, Tech, and Success

Posted on November 14, 2019

Okcupid ariel charytanTHRIVE GLOBAL – Nov 13 – OkCupid CEO, Ariel Charytan, discusses OkCupid's new market expansion.

Q: Tell us about your career trajectory?
A: Over the past two decades, I've learned that the fundamental thing we collect in life isn't money or titles, but experiences. What attracts me to new roles is the opportunity to experience something new. I have sought and been fortunate to have always worked on products that improve people's lives.

Q: What got you interested in the industry?
A: Human relationships. They are one of the most fascinating topics to study.

Q: What projects can we expect to see next?
A: OkCupid has always been a platform that allows people to be their true selves. In places like India, we are continuing to match people on what matters most to them and specific to their culture. I'm proud to be able to give people that opportunity because it's something everyone deserves.

Q: I have been predicting a greater use of AI in dating apps for years. What in your opinion is the future of dating?
A: The future of dating is going to look a lot like the origin of OkCupid. We match people on shared beliefs and values through thousands of personalized questions. AI has helped us with showing daters the people they would actually want to meet beyond simple attraction.

by Clarissa Silva
See full article at Thrive Global

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Man Admits Mailing Powder and Blood in Threats to OkCupid CEO

Posted on October 14, 2019

Okcupid logo 2018NBC BOSTON – Oct 11 – Liam MacLeod sent nine letters to the CEO of OkCupid.com in 2017, each of which contained threatening communications or suspicious substances. Two of the letters contained substances that MacLeod described as anthrax or AIDS-infected blood. He was sentenced to probation last week after pleading guilty to two counts of mailing threatening communications and two counts of conveying false information concerning purported biological weapons.

by Sophie Reardon
See full article at NBC Boston

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How OkCupid Changed the Way Society Looks at Dating Millennials Across the World

Posted on October 2, 2019

Okcupid melissa hobleyBUSINESS INSIDER – Oct 2 – Melissa Hobley is the Global CMO of OkCupid. Under Hobley, OkCupid created the iconic DTF ads. The DTF ads were banned in some markets for being provocative. In India, OKCupid launched Find My Kind campaign. The campaign drew insight from its user responses to questions on the app. 92% said that they feel their values vastly differ from their parents, and 72% do not believe they echo their friends' preferences either, clearly establishing them as a generation that values what they want, not what others want for them. The data further revealed that 67% would rather find a meaningful relationship on a dating app than have friends or family arrange a set up. Hobley denied to share OkCupid's revenue numbers but said that they measure their success rate in terms of meaningful connections that are formed on their platform every year.

by Karuna Sharma
See full article at Business Insider

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