Bumble markets itself as a safe dating app, but it may be selling your deeply personal data unless you opt-out—risking your privacy for their profit. Despite repeated requests, Bumble hasn’t confirmed if they sell or share user data, and its policy is also unclear about whether all users can delete their data, regardless of where they live. The company had previously struggled with security vulnerabilities.
So EFF has joined Mozilla Foundation and 11 other organizations urging Bumble to do a better job protecting user privacy.
Bumble needs to respect the privacy of its users and ensure that the company does not disclose a user’s data unless that user opts-in to such disclosure. This privacy threat should not be something users have to opt-out of. Protecting personal data should be effortless, especially from a company that markets itself as a safe and ethical alternative.
Dating apps collect vast amounts of intimate details about their customers—everything from sexual preferences to precise location—who are often just searching for compatibility and love. This data falling into the wrong hands can come with unacceptable consequences, especially for those seeking reproductive health care, survivors of intimate partner violence, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. For this reason, the threshold for a company collecting, selling, and transferring such personal data—and providing transparency about privacy practices—is high.
The letter urges Bumble to:
- Clarify in unambiguous terms whether or not Bumble sells customer data.
- If the answer is yes, identify what data or personal information Bumble sells, and to which partners, identifying particularly if any companies would be considered data brokers.
- Strengthen customers’ consent mechanism to opt-in to the sharing or sale of data, rather than opt-out.”
Read the full letter here.
