Apps with personal data about users, called a consumer group

Apps with personal data about users called a consumer group

A Norway-based consumer group said on Tuesday that common dating apps such as Grindr and OkCupid share personal data about users, including their location and sexuality, a Norway-based consumer group filed a complaint about privacy rules violations on Tuesday.
The Norwegian Consumer Council found that 10 widely used Android apps that collect sensitive data on health, drug use and sexual choices sent it to advertising and marketing firms without giving users clear information.

Photo:(EJ insight)

“These practices are out of control and in breach of European data protection legislation,” said Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy for the Norwegian Consumer Council.

Tech companies have investigated more data privacy, enforcing the Cambridge Analytica 2018 scandal in which ten million Facebook profiles were cut without their users' consent.

The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in 2018, restricts companies' ability to process and share personal information without personal consent, with large penalties for firms that break the rules.

The Norwegian Consumer Council on Tuesday filed a complaint against gay dating executive GRF Grindr and companies receiving data from the Norwegian Data Authority, who said she was investigating whether they had broken the GDPR rules.

Grindr said he rejected some of the report's findings, stating that his privacy policy was shared with all users who had sole control over the information they chose to provide in their profiles.

"With the change in the data protection landscape, our commitment to user privacy remains firm," the company said in a statement.

The council's study found that the application, which is used by millions of people worldwide, shares data with a large number of third parties in advertising and profiling, many of whom reserve the right to pass it on to others.

Photo:(mobileapplicationbangalore.com)

"Some location data can be dangerous for homosexuals under certain circumstances," Norwegian data protection commissioner Björn Eric Thön said in a statement.

"There are many people who do not want to open up about their orientation, and there are serious risks of being gay in many countries of the world."

The study also found that OkCupid shares information from users' personal profiles related to sexuality, drug use and political views for an analytics company, and splits dating site dating and age dating by marketing firms.

OK Matchup, owned by OkCupid and Tinder, said in a statement that it used third-party providers to assist its services but only shared information deemed necessary to operate its platforms were in accordance with applicable laws.

"Privacy is at the heart of our business," the company said.