

Using that information, we managed in 60% of cases to identify users’ pages on various social media, including Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as their full names and surnames.Īn unencrypted request from the mopub ad unit also contains the user’s coordinates More specifically, in Tinder, Happn and Bumble users can add information about their job and education. These restrictions don’t usually apply on social media, and anyone can write to whomever they like. Some apps only allow users with premium (paid) accounts to send messages, while others prevent men from starting a conversation. This data can then be used to stalk the victim.ĭiscovering a user’s profile on a social network also means other app restrictions, such as the ban on writing each other messages, can be circumvented. This in turn could allow criminals to gather much more data about the victim, track their movements, identify their circle of friends and acquaintances. If the app included an option to show your place of work, it was fairly easy to match the name of a user and their page on a social network. User tracking capabilitiesįirst of all, we checked how easy it was to track users with the data available in the app. We studied the following online dating applications:īy de-anonymization we mean the user’s real name being established from a social media network profile where use of an alias is meaningless. We took the most popular apps and analyzed what sort of user data they were capable of handing over to criminals and under what conditions. We’re talking here about intercepting and stealing personal information and the de-anonymization of a dating service that could cause victims no end of troubles – from messages being sent out in their names to blackmail. But there is one less obvious threat not related to hooking up with strangers – and that is the mobile apps used to facilitate the process. It seems just about everyone has written about the dangers of online dating, from psychology magazines to crime chronicles. Kaspersky Advanced Cyber Incident Communications.

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