Match.com | Privacy & security guide | Mozilla Foundation
Privacy
Can it snoop on me?
What is required to sign up?
What data does it collect?
Personal
Gender (required), gender preference (required), location (required), date of birth (required), first name (required), relationship preferenece (optional), have children (optional), want children (optional), education level (optional), body type (optional), smoking (optional), hair length (optional), ethnicity (optional), religion (optional), relationship status (optional), photo (minimum one), description (optional), music (optional), occupation (optional), little imperfections (optional), appearance (optional), income (optional), pets (optional), languages (optional), nationality (optional)style (optional), diet (optional), personality (optional), best feature (optional), romance (optional), interests (optional). Collects data on ethnicity and allows users to filter for it.
Biometric
Height (optional), hair color (optional), eye color (optional), weight (optional),
Social
If a user connects their social media accounts, such as Facebook, to their dating profile, collects data from that social media account, such as Facebook. However, does not specify what data it collects and how it uses it.
How does it use this data?
definitely shares user data with around 45 other Match Group companies, such as Tinder, OK Cupid, and Plenty of Fish among others. The company also shares data with third parties for purposes such as advertising and analytics.
How can you control your data?
Users can request a copy of their personal information, as well as their data to be deleted. Users based in California can request a notice disclosing the categories of personal information that has shared with third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. Both can be requested by emailing [email protected]
What is the company’s known track record for protecting users’ data?
Needs Improvement
The FTC alleged in September 2019 that used deceptive email marketing tactics to try and subscribe users to its service. In addition, Norwegian regulators started investigating Match Group properties, alleging the company shared personal user data with advertising companies in a way that may violate privacy laws.
Can this product be used offline?
No
User friendly privacy information?
Pretty technical even though they claim to make it accessible.
Links to privacy information
Privacy Policy
Match Group Privacy Statement
Security
Toggle expandable section
A strong password is required with 8 characters, 1 upper, 1 lower and 1 number.
Manages vulnerabilities
Yes
has a bug bounty program
Artificial Intelligence
Does the product use AI?
Does the AI use your personal data to make decisions about you?
Does the company allow users to see how the AI works?
introduced algorithms in 2010 to rate its users and learning from users’ preference to make recommendations. Spin forward a decade, recently released an AI Dating Chatbox aka a dating coach, called ‘Lara’, in collaboration with Google. Lara provides daily user matches, ideas for date locations, and dating advice on the basis of up to 50 personal factors (such as from conversation starters, to advice on what to wear, and tips on how to overcome nerves). Without a lot of transparency into the algorithm, one concern when apps collect this information is it’s hard to know how you might be matched and whether the apps have any potential bias.
Is Match.com Safe, Legit, and Worth It for Finding Love? – Techboomers.com
Now that we’ve shared with you what is and how it works, your next thought might be whether or not Match is safe to use. In this article, we’ll cover all the information you need to know about the safety and legitimacy of the service, and whether it’s worth paying for.
Is safe?
Yes, is safe to use for online dating. The service runs background checks to weed out those people that shouldn’t be using their services. As long as you’re careful not to reveal too much information, and don’t meet anyone in person unless you trust them, you’ll be just fine.
Is legit?
Yes, Match is definitely legitimate. Match has been around since 1993, making it one of the oldest and most well-established online dating services available. Millions of people like you have used Match and successfully started long-term relationships – maybe you’ll be next!
Is worth it?
If you’re serious about trying to find love online, then purchasing a paid subscription may be worth it for you. Paying for a premium membership subscription gives you access to all the additional features of the website and will give you a better online dating experience overall.
If you’re serious about finding love with online dating, Match is a proven resource, but you will need to pay. You simply need to decide if you’re ready for a serious commitment, or if you’d rather take your chances with free dating apps that don’t make as many compatible matches.
To learn more about the cost of Match, check out our article here.
4 Match safety tips
1. Be cautious about what information you put on your public profile.
Your profile is visible to other Match users, so be careful what personal information you reveal. Don’t post anything about your finances, your home address, etc. that could allow someone with bad intentions to steal your information.
2. Get to know your matches before going on a date with them.
You shouldn’t meet up with anyone you meet on Match without really getting to know them first. Take things slowly and talk to your matches before agreeing to meet them in person.
3. If one of your matches behaves suspiciously, cut off contact with them and report them.
Nobody should be asking for your personal or financial information. If someone asks for this type of information, or is bothering you with unwanted messages, cut off contact with them and report them to Match.
4. Let a friend know where you’re going when you meet one of your matches for the first time.
Just in case something happens to go wrong, you should always make sure someone you know is aware of where you are and who you’re with when you meet someone from Match in person for the first time. Request that your first few dates be in public places, so you won’t be alone with someone you don’t know very well.
That’s all you need to know about how safe, legit, and worth it is. If you’re ready to get started, check out the rest of our free course (here) to learn how to sign up for Match, how ’s matching system works, how to communicate on Match, and more!
Scammers on Match.com Steal Millions – AARP
Bloomberg/Getty Images
En español | Looking online for love? Be careful. After meeting suitors on, a well-known dating site, victims across the U. S. have lost upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars to these criminals who pose as perfect partners.
When online dating descends into a big fat con, the emotional and financial wallop can be devastating, and older Americans are among those who have paid the price. It happens, as a top federal prosecutor in Oklahoma put it, to people looking for love, companionship and “a partner with whom to share their life. ”
Consider the Utah woman, 81, who said she paid about $26 to subscribe to earlier this year only to meet a con man. Urging her off the dating site to message each other through Google Hangouts and WhatsApp, he pursued her relentlessly. The 21st century Svengali hid behind an attractive photo and said he was a 64-year-old native of Copenhagen, Denmark, educated in the U. and the owner of a construction firm and a four-bedroom home in Oklahoma. He called her “sweetheart, ” “babe, ” and the “love of my life. ” Saying he was retiring in November, he promised they’d marry and began addressing her as “my wife. ”
Sweetness reeks of stench
“I’ve never had a man talk to me the way he did, and tell me all this garbage. That’s all it was, garbage, ” the woman, who asked not to be identified by name, tells AARP. She never met the pseudo-suitor in person.
The woman alerted the AARP Fraud Watch Network helpline, 877-908-3360, before speaking in an interview. She described being so under the man’s spell that she painted her toenails in a color he liked before a planned get-together in Las Vegas, which never happened.
When the man told her that he was helping build a skyscraper in Venezuela, he suddenly said he needed money for taxes and other issues, including a stolen wallet. In June, she made two wire transfers totaling $130, 000 to an associate of his. That was 5, 000 times more than the $26 she recalled paying
“He was very cunning and very smart, ” she says, “and when he figured out that I had enough confidence in him, he played me to the absolute end. ”
Deep in grief
The Utah woman said she was lonely when she went on nearly two years after her husband died. Afterward a female friend became her roommate, which helped with the loneliness, but earlier this year the friend succumbed to cancer. Since being ripped off, the 81-year-old woman has this advice: To find a friend, visit a senior center, join a church group or attend singles’ events.
It was Trent Shores, then-U. attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who said that online daters who became victims were looking for love and companionship. He spoke in 2019 announcing an indictment against seven men, most Nigerian citizens living in the U. S., who laundered money from romance frauds with losses of at least $2. 5 million. Some of the money was from retirement nest eggs, authorities said.
In that case, three victims — all in their 50s and 60s — first met the bad actors on A woman in Centreville, Ohio, ended up losing $760, 000; a woman in Pryor, Oklahoma, $547, 000; and a woman in Seminole, Florida, $259, 000, authorities said. All were fed bogus stories to coerce them to send money, authorities said.
“Everyone is vulnerable to phone and internet scams, but seeing a romance scam and money-laundering conspiracy that resulted in the exploitation of elder Americans is just shameful, ” Shores said in his announcement.
A growing problem
Overall losses to romance frauds hit a record-shattering $304 million last year, the Federal Trade Commission said. Criminal cases from coast to coast reflect the horror stories behind that statistic. In New Jersey last year, federal authorities announced a $6 million case centered on romance frauds. One victim met a man on who purported to buy and sell jewels for a living. The woman sent nearly $115, 000 to his conspirators — and to give even more, embezzled $4 million from her employer, The Star-Ledger reported.
Similar scams in which was involved were unveiled in February in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in April in San Francisco.
declined to comment on any of the cases in this story.
Meantime, complaints from romance-scam victims have spiked at AARP’s fraud helpline. Reports of victims who gave away funds — or sensitive information — stood at 664 in 2020, an average of 55 reports a month. Through mid-September this year, the complaints rose to 798, for a monthly average of 93. “Scammers are really zeroing in on and taking advantage of those who might be lonely and seeking companionship, ” says AARP’s Mark Fetterhoff, an adviser in fraud victim support.
How to protect yourself
According to the FBI, con artists prowl most all dating and social media sites. The bureau makes two key points:
If you suspect an online relationship is a scam, stop all contact immediately.
People using dating sites and apps should not send money to others with whom they have communicated only online or by phone.
The FBI takes complaints about these and other cybercrimes at its Internet Crime Complaint Center. Here’s more of its guidance:
Be careful what you post online. Scammers can use details from social media and dating sites to understand and target you.
Research a person’s photo and profile online. Check if the image, name or details have been used elsewhere. [You can search photos via]·
If you meet a prospective partner, go slowly and ask lots of questions.
Beware if the individual seems too perfect — or quickly asks you to leave a dating service or social media site to communicate directly.
Beware if the individual attempts to isolate you from friends and family or requests inappropriate photos or financial data that could be used to extort you.
Beware if the individual promises to meet in person but always has an excuse about why he or she can’t. If you haven’t met the person after a few months, you have good reason to be suspicious.
If someone you met online needs your bank account information to deposit money, they are most likely using your account for other thefts and frauds.
Declines AARP Questions
AARP was turned down when it asked for an interview with the Match Group Inc. about romance frauds originating on one of its dating platforms, “We unfortunately don’t have anyone available for an interview on this, ” spokesperson Vidhya Murugesan said.
The company also declined to answer emailed questions for this story. The Dallas-based Match Group owns several dating sites including, Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge, Pairs, PlentyOfFish and OurTime.
The company boasts dating sites in more 40 languages for users around the world. Last year it reported $128. 6 million in profit on $2. 39 billion in revenue.
Here’s how the company, on its website, addresses safety: “While relatively few of the hundreds of millions of people that have used our products have been harmed by bad actors, we believe that any incident of misconduct or criminal behavior is one too many. ”
Among AARP’s questions that the company did not answer:
How many people have been defrauded over the years?
Is doing background checks on all who post profiles?
How many times this year has, and its affiliated sites, barred fraudsters from setting up profiles? How often this year has it removed suspicious accounts?
The company, on its website, says it bans and blocks fraudulent behavior with “sophisticated” technology to patrol for fraud. It says it reviews member profiles to block internet protocol (IP) addresses from high-alert countries, to identify stolen credit-card numbers and to detect suspicious language in profiles.
Don’t send money to someone you’ve met on its dating platforms — and report anybody who asks, the company advises.
Katherine Skiba covers scams and fraud for AARP. Previously she was a reporter with the Chicago Tribune, U. News & World Report, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She was a recipient of Harvard University’s Nieman Fellowship and is the author of the book, Sister in the Band of Brothers: Embedded with the 101st Airborne in Iraq.
Frequently Asked Questions about match com security
Is match com a secure site?
Yes, Match.com is safe to use for online dating. The service runs background checks to weed out those people that shouldn’t be using their services. As long as you’re careful not to reveal too much information, and don’t meet anyone in person unless you trust them, you’ll be just fine.Apr 12, 2017
Can you get scammed on match com?
Be careful. After meeting suitors on Match.com, a well-known dating site, victims across the U.S. have lost upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars to these criminals who pose as perfect partners.Sep 17, 2021
What’s wrong with match com?
This week, Match.com, one of the largest dating sites on the market, was hit with a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accusing the platform of scamming millions of users with phishing love messages sent by fake accounts.Sep 27, 2019