Dating Apps – Are They Safe?

Searching for one’s destiny online, be it a lifelong relationship or a one-night stand, which has been pretty common for quite some time. Dating apps are now part of our everyday life. To find an ideal partner, users of such apps are ready to reveal their name, occupation, place of work, where they like to hang out, and lots more besides. Dating apps are often used to do things of a rather intimate nature, including the occasional nude photo. But how carefully do these apps handle such data that have been shared from one person to another?

Nowadays most women actively take part in these dating sites in worldwide and also many dating sites gives more importance to the woman.

Certain points have to be kept in mind while using dating apps:

1. Profile Pictures: Which should be posted with full body and complete face.
2. Be cautious: Need to be more alert with whom you are approaching while on the conversation.
3. Be honest with yourself: Always have a phone conversation before meeting up with someone.
4. Never give your personal information: No need to disclose your personal information to someone who you think is suspicious.
5. Be careful on your first date: Always have first few dates in some public place.
6. Block suspicious user: If someone is asking for money, immediately need to block the user.

Even as more and more youngsters are using dating apps for fun or to find the love of their life, new research warns that these apps are vulnerable to hacks, putting the users at risk of getting their locations and real names revealed. There is no such harm in using such services but you need to understand the issues and have to minimise the risk wherever possible. It has also been discovered that four of the nine apps that is Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, Badoo, Mamba, Zoosk, Happen, WeChat, Paktor have been investigated and found that it allows potential criminals to figure out who is hiding behind a nickname based on data provided by users themselves. Using this information, it is possible to find their social media accounts and discover their real names.

There could also be a possibility of malware infection, bugs and multiple loopholes that allow hackers to look into personal chats. This could also lead to instances where a user liking a profile picture could be hijacked to like another person’s picture. Together, these apps have about 51 million users.

Let us discuss a hacking incident that has happened in July for dating website Ashley Madison where, hackers broke into Canada-based dating website Ashley Madison and threatened to reveal personal data such as sexual fantasies, nude images, real names of customers and their credit card details. Almost all the applications scanned had a weak message digest, which makes user authentication easy to crack. It has also observed that none of the applications was completely secure against mobile security vulnerabilities and suggested that all the dating application companies need to make their security levels more high to protect user data and information.

In conclusion, to sum all of this up, online dating is fantastic, and a great way to meet new friends. If you are very lucky, you may even meet the love of your life. But, dating apps are dangerous because you really don't know the kinds of peoples are on the internet, however, sometimes people use them because they have a hard time to find someone to relate in their communities. It's much safer and not as risky. As with anything in life, you have to be really careful and learn to recognize and know the warning signs when to use. You also need to know how to react when you are a potential victim of someone.