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New website lets anyone spy on Tinder

users
Developer says Swipebuster is making a comment about privacy, but users of dating
app are worried

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A new website promises to find out if someone is using Tinder. Photograph: Alamy

A lex Hern
@alexhern
Tuesday 5 April 2016 10.18 EDT

Tinder isnt as private as many of its users think, and a new website which
aims to exploit that is causing concern among users of the dating app.
Swipebuster promises to let Tinder users find out whether people they know
have an account on the dating app, and even stalk them down to their last
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known location.

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A screenshot of the Swipebuster website. Photograph: Swipebuster

The website charges $4.99 (3.50) to let someone see whether the target is
using Tinder, and can narrow down results by first name, age, gender and
location.
But it doesnt do so by hacking into Tinder, or even by scraping the app
manually. Instead, it searches the database using Tinders official API, which
is intended for use by third-party developers who want to write software that
plugs in with the site. All the information that it can reveal is considered
public by the company, and revealed through the API with few safeguards.
Although the site seems targeted at those who want to catch cheating
partners on the app, its developer says he had a different motivation in mind,
telling Vanity Fair that he wanted to highlight oversharing online.
More on this topic

There is too much data about people that

Tuna or red snap p er

w hat's the best fish for a
Tind er hook up ?

people themselves dont know is available, the

anonymous developer said. Not only are
people oversharing and putting out a lot of

information about themselves, but companies

are also not doing enough to let people know theyre doing it.
But the argument that Swipebuster is made to highlight privacy breaches on
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Tinders part seems questionable when one looks at the website itself. Under
a headline reading Find out if theyre using Tinder for only $4.99, the site
says nothing about privacy or expectations thereof, instead offering only a
walkthrough for users who want to pay for its services. An animated gif
showing the process ends with an image of the supposed target
superimposed with the word Busted.

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Swipebuster in action. Photograph: Swipebuster

Tinder argued there were no privacy issues raised, and told Vanity Fair
searchable information on the Web site is public information that Tinder
users have on their profiles. If you want to see whos on Tinder we
recommend saving your money and downloading the app for free.
But others warned that, regardless of motivations, the site was dangerous.
Sam Escobar tweeted:

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 Sam Escobar (@myhairisblue)

April 4 , 2016
Did anyone t hink about t he pot ent ial danger of an obsessive/abusive ex
ut ilizing t his? ht t ps://t .co/P7t VRcFb6I pic.t wit t er.com/IQvnsgU1J2

Even if the information is freely accessible through Tinders API, the reaction
to Swipebuster confirms many users thought they were more anonymous
than they really were.
Even if it might seem obvious that Tinder, a site which works by showing
name, gender, age and location to strangers, doesnt consider that
information secret, its a very different matter to be confronted with a
searchable database of that information. Your home is not secret, for
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example people see you come and go all the time but that doesnt mean
posting your address online is advisable.

Mo re news

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