Warning: *privacy not included with this product
Jdate
Started in 1997, this dating app is targeted at Jewish men and women looking for other Jewish people to date. Free to sign up and browse profiles, users must have a subscription to message other users. With around 200,000 users worldwide, the app allows people to target specific Jewish affiliations such as Conservative, Hasidic, or Reform as part of their search. Users don't have to be Jewish to sign up, there is a "Willing to convert" profile option. Both straight and LGBTQ profile options are available on Jdate. And while users are only required to provide some basic personal information to sign up, users more open to sharing personal information will get more matches on the app.
What could happen if something goes wrong?
You learn some interesting things researching dating apps. Here's one: The Jdate app ask for permissions to control the flashlight on your phone and the ability to disable your lock screen. Weird and a little creepy, right? Creepy app permissions aside, Jdate 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 Jdate 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 Jdate, both Facebook and Jdate 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 Jdate 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
"First name (required), last name (required), gender (required – only two options available), date of birth (required), zip code (required), photo (one required), user name (optional), religion (required), occupation (optional), have children (optional), want children (optional), level of education (required), college (optional), description (optional), interests (optional), marital status (optional), willingness to relocate (optional), synagogue attendance (optional), kosher (optional), occupation (optional), grew up in (optional), ethnicity (optional), language (optional), pets (optional), drinking habits (optional), smoking habits (optional), preferred first date (optional). Preferences (optional: gender, age, distance, religion, relationship type, height, level of education, kosher, synagogue attendance, smoking habits, drinking habits, have kids, want kids, willingness to relocate, marital status, language, ethnicity, interests). Collects data on ethnicity and allows users to filter for it.
Body related
Height (optional)
Social
Depending on the user’s privacy settings on social media platforms and whether they connect their JDate account to a social media platforms, JDate 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 JDate 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 Jdate 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 us 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
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Dating sites Jdate and Christian Mingle to pay restitution to customersLA Times
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JDate Review February 2021Dating Scout
Comments
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