Warning: *privacy not included with this product
Christian Mingle
Founded in 2001, this dating app is targeted at Christians looking for other Christians to date. Free to sign up and browse profiles, users must have a subscription to message other users. With around 15 million users worldwide, the app allows users to target specific Christian denominations such as Catholic, Baptist, or Pentecostal, as well as ethnicity as part of their search. Up until 2016, gays and lesbians weren't welcome on the app as searches were limited to "man seeking woman" or "woman seeking man." A non-discrimination lawsuit forced Christian Mingle to add in the "man seeking man" and "woman seeing woman" options although you can't distinguish between gay and lesbian and straight people within the app.
What could happen if something goes wrong?
Here's a question: Why does the Christian Mingle app need control of the flashlight on your phone? We're sure there's a joke in here somewhere about needing to see the light. We'll refrain from making it. Seriously though, the app asks for control of your phone's flashlight and the ability to disable your lock screen. That just feels a bit creepy. Creepy app permissions aside, Christian Mingle says they don't "sell" your personal information based on a the legal definition of "sell." They aren't clear on how they might otherwise share or exchange your information though. And be warned, if you connect your Facebook account to Christian Mingle they could be collecting a lot of data on you, including your name, profile picture, public Facebook profile, network, gender, username, user ID, age range or birthday, place of work, relationship interests, language, location, country, interests, photos, photos you are tagged in, videos, contacts list, friends lists or followers and other information such as information about Facebook friends you might share in common with other members. Shoot, depending on the site and your privacy settings, they may also post information to your social network. Yikes! Remember, when you connect a social media account like Facebook to Christian Mingle, both Facebook and the Christian Mingle Now potentially collect more information together. That's why we recommend users don't link your dating app to Facebook. What's the worst that could happen? Well, we'd hate to see the app take control of the flashlight on your phone and turn it on in the middle of a date with an SOS warning. That would be awful, as would Christian Mingle collecting a whole bunch of information about you and sharing it around with others without your knowledge.
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: N/A
App: Yes
Microphone
Device: N/A
App: Yes
Tracks location
Device: N/A
App: Yes
What can be used to sign up?
Yes
Phone
No
Third-party account
Yes
Either email or third-party (Apple or Facebook) is required to sign up.
What data does the company collect?
Personal
Names (required), gender (required), date of birth (required), zip code (required), photo (min one required), marital status (optional), church attendance (optional), occupation (optional), having kids (optional), wanting kids (optional), level of education (required), description (optional), interests (optional), what you are looking for (optional), billing or payment information (if purchases are made on the app), user behavior on the site (required), content and metadata of photos, videos and content (required), content of messages (required). Does not appear to collect data on ethnicity.
Body related
Height (optional)
Social
Depending on the user’s privacy settings on social media platforms and whether they connect their Christian Mingle account to a social media platforms, Christian Mingle collects user’s social media name, profile picture, public profile, network, gender, username, user ID, age range or birthday, place of work, relationship interests, language, location, country, interests, photos, photos you are tagged in, videos, contacts list, friends lists or followers and other information such as information about friends users might share in common with other Christian Mingle users.
How does the company use this data?
How can you control your data?
What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?
No known incidents for Christian Mingle in last 2 years. Data breach for dating app (Zoosk) identified; Zoosk is also owned by Spark Networks. No indication that other dating apps owned by Spark were compromised.
Can this product be used offline?
User-friendly privacy information?
A very long privacy policy. While the first half is relatively clear, the second half is both complex and difficult to follow. No reference to GDPR and it is unclear whether or not their sell users data.
Links to privacy information
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
We were unable to determine if they use encryption to protect users' personal information, chats, photos, and more.
Strong password
Minimum of eight characters. When we tried 12345678, it prompted me to use a less common password.
Security updates
Manages vulnerabilities
We were unable to tell if they have a bug bounty program.
Privacy policy
Does the product use AI?
Is this AI untrustworthy?
What kind of decisions does the AI make about you or for you?
Is the company transparent about how the AI works?
Does the user have control over the AI features?
Dive Deeper
-
Dating sites Jdate and Christian Mingle to pay restitution to customersLA Times
-
ChristianMingle Review February 2021Dating Scout
Comments
Got a comment? Let us hear it.