13 May The dark side of dating apps
Crimes involving dating apps have doubled in some parts of the UK, uncovering a darker side to the world of online dating. Along these reported crimes there have been increases of rape, violent assault, grooming and attempted murder. With 95 per cent of tinder users meeting their matches within one week, are you really safe?
Since the conviction of Stephen Port in 2016, or the “Grindr Killer” as some refer to him as, many people have been shown the realities of the dangers of using online dating apps. He was sentenced to life after drugging and murdering four men after meeting them on the dating app, Grindr. Over the last five years there have been more and more reported cases of crime involving dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr. With over 50 million people using Tinder worldwide, the dating app has gained a reputation as a ‘hook-up’ site, especially amongst the younger generation in the UK. Students make up a large proportion of the users, who casually use the app to fit in with busy schedules. Jasmine, a second-year drama student believes “most students look to Tinder as a way to meet people in order to fit around uni life, its casual and easy to meet new people when you don’t have time to go out as much”. With George, another student admitting that he uses the app “more for just a casual hook up thing, nothing serious”.
Three students from London participated in sharing their experiences with dating apps since starting university: George, Jasmine and Rose (name has been changed). Although their stories were mixed, all giving slightly different opinions on the use of dating apps, one thing remained apparent. All three students stated that regardless of their experiences, you can never be too careful, and it is so important to protect yourselves. One student, Rose, stated that “you can use dating apps and be perfectly fine but its understanding what the red flags are and knowing how to protect yourself”.
With almost 7 million people registered on dating apps in the UK, it has almost become some-what part of our culture, with the term the ‘swipe right generation’ being coined. There are so many other distractions in people’s busy lives, from work to school deadlines. More and more people are using dating apps in the mission of searching for love, with “1 in 3 relationships now starting online”. Jasmine thought she had met someone on Tinder that she connected well with, after they had been speaking for “about a month or two”. But she soon learned that she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did. “It was nice because you’d be so busy working and going to uni, and it was easy with an app because you could just talk when you had the time”. They met up after she thought they had been talking for long enough, and that she knew enough about him. “He was just completely different with me in real life compared to how he was online, it’s like something just switched. All the connection we had built online had disappeared, and it completely changed my outlook on dating apps”.
Since Tinder hit the limelight in 2012, many other dating apps and sites have popped up that continue to be popular, especially in the student population. A study carried out by ‘Kaspersky Lab’ looked at nine different dating apps in popular circulation today including: Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, Badoo, Mamba, Zoosk, Happn, WeChat and Paktor; to see how safe they really are. The conclusions of the investigation showed that many of these apps did not handle the sensitive data of users with “sufficient care”. Tinder, Paktor and Bumble on Andriod devices upload photos via HTTP, meaning that potential attackers are able to locate the exact profiles that the image came from. This means that sensitive images that are exchanged can be easily traced back to the person they are from, this is dangerous as in the worst-case scenario it can be used to blackmail people. Tinder, Happn and Bumble also allow anyone to see a user’s location of work or study which causes concern as it was easy to figure out a person’s real name through social media accounts. Rose stated, “I think people are aware of the dangers of dating apps, but they don’t really think about it too much. It’s one of those things where you don’t think something bad will happen to you”.
The amount of offences reported that mentioned a dating app has increased from 329 in 2015, to 658 in 2018 according to figures from police across England and Wales provided by a Freedom of Information request. Figures from the BBC revealed that between 2015 and 2018 there were a total of 2,029 recorded offences. 286 of these reported crimes in 2018 were of a sexual nature. The problem that occurs is that dating apps cannot do a background check on every single user, apps simply do not have the resources to do so. This is the case for the death of Katherine Smith in September 2017, who was murdered by a man that she met on a dating app. The man she had met, was found out to have had previous domestic violence convictions. Debbie Smith, Katherine’s mother stated on a BBC 5 investigation ‘The dangers of online dating apps’, “If Katherine had known he had a criminal record, she wouldn’t have gone out with him”. She had been seeing him for 6 months which demonstrates that you can never be too careful and makes you question, how well do you really know someone? As dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr continue to grow in popularity so do the crimes related to them, users are urged to take precautions in order to stay safe. Jasmine stated, “The worst part is that you talk to someone for what feels like such a long time and when you meet, they turn out to be completely different. It’s bad because social media and dating apps let you become a different person. It’s hard to fully trust who you’re talking to”
When asked Grindr specified, “It doesn’t condone violent or abusive behaviour and works with authorities and LGBT communities to help protect users”. The problem is that many of these crimes committed are perpetrated through the app and committed when a meet up happens. To protect users online “Grindr encourages users to report suspicious and threatening activities” but also reminds users that “Grindr is an open platform”. With “70 per cent of the stranger rape cases happening with people going home with their dates” more information needs to be available to help keep people safe outside of the apps when these situations occur. Rose states “I have two main rules, first one is that you are always in a social situation, and always go when its daylight”. She went on to say how you should always go with your “gut instinct” because “face to face is so different”.
One thing that remained apparent amongst the students is that they all believed that women were at more risk of being the target of dating app related crimes. George stated, when asked if he worried about the dangers of dating apps “Not really because I don’t think there are many dangers from being a bloke on it, it’s definitely more dangerous for girls”. Statistics released by the BBC stated that “the percentage of women using dating apps never goes above 35%”. Maybe women are less active on dating apps because they are more aware of the uncertainty attached to them, and therefore the dangers. Rose stated, “there are a lot of men that are really forceful, and you’ve just got to be really careful with your intentions”.
With more and more people joining dating app community every day, maybe the main thing is to protect users whilst they are using them and make sure they are educated in how to keep themselves safe too. George Kidd, Chief Executive of the online dating association, stated “a third of relationships start this way and 10 million people use them in the UK. It’s part of our social fabric so we want to celebrate it and make sure its safe”. Through its website, Tinder advises users “We ask you to read the tips and information below, and strongly urge you to follow these guidelines in the interest of your personal safety and well-being. However, you are always the best judge of your own safety, and these guidelines are not intended to be a substitute for your own judgment”. They go on to provide information of how you can protect yourself not just online and offline, but also in terms of your health.
Due to the difficulty to implement anything and legal accountability not falling on the apps themselves, the police are urging users to stay safe and protect themselves where possible. As the number of people using dating apps continues to rise, so does the number of crimes in relation to them. This shows that dating apps are not losing popularity, but they are still just as dangerous as ever before. It is crucial that more preventative measures are put in place in order to protect users before its’ too late. How many more victims must there be?
