Match Group made clear its ongoing commitment to protecting users’ privacy and data today in response to a Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) report that looked at advertising and user data practices of top mobile apps. While the report mentions Match Group products OkCupid and Tinder in a discussion of mobile apps that share data with third party ad tech firms, no Match Group products were named in companion complaints filed by NCC with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.

Match Group, which is dedicated to the protection of user data and complies with all applicable laws in every market, released the following statement in response to the NCC report:

• Privacy is at the core of our business. Unlike other tech companies whose business models rely on the sale of personal information, ours is subscription-based and reliant on engendering trust and being a great experience for users, NOT the sale of data.
• Tinder and OkCupid use the third-party providers identified in the NCC report to assist with technical operations and providing our overall services, similar to all other apps and online platforms. For example, Tinder and OkCupid respectively use the vendors Leanplum and Braze identified in the report to manage communications to their users about their services, NOT for advertising purposes.
• When it comes to sharing information with our service providers, we only share the specific information deemed necessary to operate our platform, in line with the applicable laws including GDPR and CCPA. All Match Group products obtain from these vendors strict contractual commitments that ensure confidentiality, security of users’ personal information and strictly prohibit commercialization of this data.
• What’s more, contrary to what was reported, Tinder and OkCupid user data is never shared with any Match Group services for any commercial purposes. Tinder and OkCupid only share data in cases where individuals are reported for criminal activity and/or engaging in bad behavior.
• Last but not least, let us be clear: neither Tinder nor OkCupid nor any Match Group company uses sensitive personal information whatsoever for advertising purposes.
• Protecting our users’ personal data is of utmost importance to us. We understand that nothing is more important on a dating site than keeping personal information personal. We do not sell user data and only process data to deliver and improve our services and the user experience. Like the NCC and other consumer and civil rights advocacy groups, we support initiatives and reasonable legislation aimed at curbing data sharing and monetizing practices to keep users’ data private.
  
  

For more information on our privacy policies please visit: Tinder and OkCupid’s privacy policies.