Warning: *privacy not included with this product

Hinge

Wi-Fi

Review date: March 15, 2021

Mozilla says

For many people, the best part of using a dating app is the day you get to delete it. That sure sign you've found true love and don't need to muck about any more with the fiery hot hell that is dating. Whoo, what a relief! Welcome to Hinge, the dating app designed to be deleted. Hinge wants you to know they've made a relationship app, not a dating or hook up app. What's all this mean? Hinge asks users to provide vitals (neighborhood where you live, gender, height, education, and the like) and what they call virtues, your opinion on things from politics to alcohol and drugs and more, a picture, and an answer to a writing prompt. Then users go forth and use all that profile information to not just look for pictures, but use the prompts as a place to start a conversation. Does Hinge actually work to get you to delete it? It did for American politician Pete Buttigieg, who says he met his husband on Hinge.

What could happen if something goes wrong?

"We do not promise, and you should not expect, that your personal information will always remain secure." That's a line from Hinge's privacy policy (and believe us, they aren't the only dating app with something like that in their privacy policy). That line pretty much sums up how you should approach sharing your personal information on dating apps, and online in general, but especially with dating apps as they collect so much more personal information. Hinge asks users to provide their ethnicity and whether or not they have children or want children. They also ask for other personal information like drug use and religion. They do this so they can maybe match you with the best match possible (no telling if the algorithms they use to help match you are biased as there isn't much transparency into how they work). And like so many dating apps, Hinge asks users to connect their Facebook account to sign in to the app. Remember, when you connect a social media account like Facebook to a dating app, both Facebook and the dating app now potentially collect more information together. That's why we recommend users don't link your dating app to Facebook. Finally, Match Group owns Hinge and at least 45 other dating sites like Tinder, OKCupid, and Match.com. When you sign up with one of these dating sites, the Match Group privacy policy states they may share your personal information with any of the other Match Groups sites for what they say are non-commercial limited and critical purposes. That's a lot of personal data you might have thought only going to once place getting shared across multiple dating sites.

mobile

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?

First phone, then email and then optional third-party

What data does the company collect?

Personal

"First name (required), last name (optional), date of birth (required), location (required), gender (required), sexual orientation (required), ethnicity (required), have children (required), want children (required), hometown (optional), workplace (optional), job title (optional), school (optional), education level (required), religion (required), politics (required), drinking (required), smoking (required), weed consumption (optional), drug use (optional), photos and/or videos (optional), description (optional), financial information (optional). Collects data on ethnicity and allows users to filter for it.

How does the company use this data?

Hinge definitely shares user data with around 45 other Match Group companies, such as Tinder, OK Cupid, and Plenty of Fish among others. The company also shares data with third parties for purposes such as advertising and analytics.

How can you control your data?

Users can request a copy of their personal information, as well as their data to be deleted. Users based in California can request a notice disclosing the categories of personal information that Hinge has shared with third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year.

What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?

Average

No known incidents in the last two years

Can this product be used offline?

User-friendly privacy information?

Links to privacy information

Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?

Yes

Encryption

Yes

Strong password

N/A

Password wasn't requires as login happens either via phone or third-party

Security updates

Yes

Manages vulnerabilities

Yes

Hinge states that they "regularly perform assessments by security experts and third party auditors" and invite researcher "to submit security findings and bugs to our bug bounty program" among other steps to strengthen security.

Privacy policy

Yes

Privacy Policy includes security info. In addition, Hinge, as opposed to Tinder, has a dedicated Security page where the company explains the steps that they take to keep users safe online. For more see: https://hinge.co/security

Does the product use AI?

Yes

As with Tinder and most dating apps, information about algorithms are limited or non-existent, as they are company secrets. However, people have raised ethical concerns about these algorithms.