Tinder Social gets a beating for outing users to Facebook friends
Well, this did not go as planned.
On Wednesday, Tinder launched a pilot to test out a new feature, Tinder Social, which allows groups of friends to match with other groups of friends. Rolling out to a select test audience in Australia, the feature was immediately pilloried online and in the media as an invasion of privacy.
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Here's how it works: To form a group on Tinder, the app shows you a list of your Facebook friends who may or may not also be on the app -- it's not clear, although Mashable has reached out to Tinder for clarification. You can pick a few to form a group, and then chat with other groups to see if you might like to meet up.
The big glaring problem here is that your use of the dating platform is easily exposed to Facebook friends. Even if you're comfortable with close friends knowing, most people's Facebook friends list is a glut of old teachers, ex-boyfriends and backpackers you met once in Prague.
The company seems to have realized the error, adding an update to its Tinder Social blog post clarifying how the feature works. Tinder will let you opt out of being added to groups, but it appears the feature is automatically switched on for those selected in the pilot, which is far from ideal.
"We are only testing it at this point," it added, "but it's important to note Tinder's not a secret considering 70% of users download Tinder because their friends recommend it."
The issue is, by signing up to Tinder, you agree to this type of shenanigans. If you read the terms of use and privacy policy -- and why would you? The Terms and Conditions site estimates it will take 63 minutes to read -- Tinder reserves the right to modify its service at any time with or without notice. Although that right, too, has proved controversial lately.
With Tinder Social, the app seems to be attempting to broaden its appeal, aiming to help you find friends as well as romance. "It's not group dating, it's a fun new way to meet new people out with your friends," it insisted. As Mashable noted in March, Tinder recently acquired Humin, a startup that created a contact-management app. Perhaps that's another indication it's looking to leverage its user base beyond dating.
Do people really want Tinder for friends or workplace networking, though? Tinder users may find out, whether they want to or not.
BONUS: Sorry, you're addicted to Tinder
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Topics Cybersecurity Privacy Tinder
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
