GDPR Officials Probe Tinder For Potential Privacy Infringement

• There were complaints made by individuals about the dating app in multiple EU countries.
• It’s unclear (so far) which GDPR guidelines may have been violated by the dating app.

Popular dating app Tinder is now under a formal investigation in Europe over the suspicious handling of user data.

What happened?

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) recently announced a probe on Tinder’s process of utilizing users’ personal data; the transparency surrounding it; and whether or not it meets compliance standards with obligations with regard to data subject rights requests.

• Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives its citizens a number of rights over their personal data. For example, a user can request deletion or a copy of their data.
• Also, entities processing people’s personal data must have a valid legal basis to do so.

Why the probe?

There were complaints made by individuals about the dating app in multiple EU countries.

The Tinder probe came about as a result of active monitoring of complaints received from individuals “both in Ireland and across the EU” — in order to identify “thematic and possible systemic data protection issues,” DPC officials said.

What now?

It’s unclear (so far) which GDPR guidelines may have been compromised by the dating app. As per reports, the authorities have reached out to Tinder for a response.

Meanwhile, the DPC has responded to long-standing complaints by consumer rights groups regarding Google’s handling of location data. A formal investigation has also been announced.