Warning: *Privacy Not Included with this product
Elite Singles
If your dating tastes lean more towards people 30 - 55 who have a certain level of education and earning power, Elite Singles could be the matchmaking site for you. It sounds a tad snooty, and that's exactly what some people are looking for. Elite Singles claims to have earned the trust of more than 13 million singles worldwide and creates around 2000 new couples every month. They also say their members are the ambitious type and that 85% have an above-average education. Users don't search the pool of people and pick who they want on Elite Singles like on many other dating apps. Instead the app matches you to people based on a long personality questionnaire that analyzes 29 personality traits (who knew we all had so many personality traits!) and then shoots those matches your way. Elite Singles probably isn't for everyone, but hey, what dating app is?
What could happen if something goes wrong?
If you think privacy and security are part of the elite experience offered by Elite Singles, you are about to be dissapointed. We are sorry to say that this app -- and its Spark-Network-owned sisters, like Zoosk, ChristianMingle, and Jdate -- all earn our *Privacy Not Included warning label. That's kinda the opposite of elite.
Elite Singles sure can collect a lot of personal information about its users. First there's contact information, like your name, email, address, and phone number. Then there's what counts as "sensitive information" like -- excuse me? -- your "sexual preferences and experiences". It's not unheard of for sex-related data to make its way into privacy policies but "experiences"? That is a new one for us. There's also your race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religious affiliation, union memberships, biometric information, videos, "physical characteristics" and a lot more. Basically, all the information you give about yourself while you're on the app can be collected by Elite Singles, including whatever you add to your profile or send in messages. And when Elite Singles collects your photos and videos, they can collect extra information from the files (called metadata) -- like the time the photo was taken, where, and what day. They can also scan your content with third party services to "help identify your interests and activities—such as if your photo includes pets, sports or trips—and to help [them] provide better matches for you." So you might want to crop out any objects in the background you don't want used for matching -- like your beater car.
On top of all that, there's some information collected automatically from your device. Mostly that's information about your device, but can include personal information like your IP address and even other apps that you've downloaded. Oh, and location data. Did we mention everything you do on Elite Singles? That's data too. Good grief, there is more. Elite Singles can collect information about you from other sources -- like other people, social media, affiliates, and "third-party information providers". And they can use your personal information to make assumptions about you, called inferences. You should also know that Elite Singles' privacy policy also says users can import their address book and can be notified when their contacts sign up for the services. That might be awkward if your ex still has your contact in their phone.
Oh my, that's a lot! The privacy policy even says that "[w]here you do not provide the personal data detailed in this Policy, we may not be able to provide you with the Services." OK so at least some of the time, giving up all that information isn't exactly "optional" either. What is it all for? Aside from finding you a first-class partner, Elite singles can use personal information such as your gender, age, and "usage data" to "deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you" and to measure their effectiveness. That's not good. They can also share your personal information with their affiliates -- which includes all those other apps owned by Spark Network. They can also share your personal information with "[a]advertising networks and technology companies" unless you opt out.
Finally, even though Elite Singles' security scored slightly better than other Spark-Network-owned apps, we still couldn't confirm whether the app meets our Minimum Security Standards. Boooo. A final blow? The app doesn't guarantee all users the right to get their personal data deleted.
So what could go wrong with Elite Singles? Since Elite Singles can collect your income and can share your personal information with ad networks, you could start seeing ads for all kinds of fancy shmancy products because of your super high salary -- even though Rolexes and Rolls-Royces are so not your style (and your income is so not those ad networks' business).
Tips to protect yourself
- Follow Elite Singles' Safety Tips.
- Visit the app's privacy preferences at the app and opt out from personalized advertising as well as all non-essential data collection.
- Request your data be deleted once you stop using the app. Simply deleting an app from your device usually does not erase your personal data nor does close your account.
- Do not give consent to constant geolocation tracking by the app. Better provide geolocation 'only when using the app'.
- Do not share sensitive data through the app.
- Do not give access to your photos and video or camera.
- Do not log in using third-party accounts.
- Do not connect to any third party via the app, or at least make sure that a third party employs decent privacy practices.
- Do not give consent for sharing of personal data for marketing and advertising.
- Choose a strong password! You may use a password control tool like 1Password, KeePass etc.
- Do not use social media plug-ins.
- Use your device privacy controls to limit access to your personal information via app (do not give access to your camera, microphone, images, location unless necessary).
- Keep your app regularly updated.
- Limit ad tracking via your device (eg on iPhone go to Privacy -> Advertising -> Limit ad tracking) and biggest ad networks (for Google, go to Google account and turn off ad personalization).
- When starting a sign-up, do not agree to tracking of your data if possible.
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: N/A
App: No
Microphone
Device: N/A
App: No
Tracks location
Device: N/A
App: Yes
What can be used to sign up?
Yes
Phone
No
Third-party account
No
What data does the company collect?
Personal
Name, email address, phone number, address, race, ethnicity, sexual preferences and experiences, political affiliation, religious affiliation, union memberships, biometric information, birth date, videos, password, billing information, credit card information, demographic information, place of work, education, your personal interests and background, gender, age, dating age range preference, physical characteristics, personal description, life experiences, geographic location, your photos; IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, platform type, cookies, device ID, IDFA, Google AdID, device type, model, manufacturer, mobile device operating system brand, model, mobile carrier, phone number, email address, cookies, web beacons, embedded scripts, location-identifying technologies, file information, similar technology, location data.
Body related
Biometric information, physical characteristics, personal description, photos and any information derived from them
Social
Dating insights, address book.
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 data breaches discovered in the last three years.
Child Privacy Information
Can this product be used offline?
User-friendly privacy information?
Links to privacy information
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
Elite Singles employs encryption.
Strong password
"A strong password has at least 8 characters. We recommend a combination of uppercase and lowercase characters, consisting of a combination of letters, numbers and at least one symbol, such as *, !, or #. Avoid using one of your previous or existing passwords."
Security updates
Manages vulnerabilities
Privacy policy
Dive Deeper
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EliteSingles Review (2024): Is It Worth Using?Forbes
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The demise of the dating app? Why singles are swapping online matching for real life meetingsThe Guardian
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