Tinder, happn and Parship May Violate Dutch Privacy Laws

Scott Harvey 29th October 201929th October 2019

The Dutch non-profit Consumentenbond (“Consumers’ League”) has accused five dating sites of failing to comply with the country’s privacy laws.

According to their coverage, Tinder, happn, 50plusmatch.nl, Parship, and Paiq all place tracking cookies without requesting the appropriate permissions.

Further, Tinder, Parship and Paiq allegedly allow Facebook to see this tracking information once it has been collected. The sites’ privacy policies are said to be intentionally nonspecific when it comes to which third parties can access user data.

Five other dating sites were also investigated by Consumentenbond: Lexa, e-Matching, Badoo, Relatie Planet and Pepper.

Of the 10, only e-Matching had a “complete and correct” privacy statement as judged by the organisation.

Happn, Paiq, Pepper and 50plusmatch.nl have all announced that they will adjust their cookie policies and / or privacy statements in the wake of the news.

Last week, GDI interviewed David Vermeulen, the CEO of Amsterdam and London-based selective dating platform The Inner Circle.

On the topic of data privacy, he said: “This year we’ve seen a long list of apps, across multiple industries, that have failed to protect user data. With so much data analytics, it’s important that we and all dating apps grasp the full scope of our responsibility in keeping users safe.”