Tinder has a proven track record of providing a dating platform to some less-than-stellar men who have been accused of raping—and in one grisly case, dismembering—women they’ve met through the platform. But even when the company does something right, there are still privacy trade-offs to consider.
While the company still seems to lack some basic safety steps, like, say, preemptively screening for known sexual offenders, the company did announce on Thursday its latest effort to curb the reputation it’s gleaned over the years: a “panic button” that connects each user with emergency responders. With the help of a company called Noonlight, Tinder users will be able to share the details of their date—and their given location—in the event that law enforcement needs to get involved.
While on one hand, the announcement is a positive step as the company tries to wrangle the worst corners of its user base. On the other hand, as Tinder confirmed in an email to Gizmodo, Tinder users will need to download the separate, free Noonlight app to enable these safety features within Tinder’s app—and as we’ve seen time and time (and time and time) again, free apps, by design, aren’t very good at keeping user data quiet, even if that data concerns something as sensitive as sexual assault. Unsurprisingly, Noonlight’s app is no exception.
