UltraViolet Joins Mozilla, Other Allies to Demand Privacy Answers from Bumble
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, August 9, 2024
CONTACT: Brett Abrams | brett@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Joins Mozilla, Other Allies to Demand Privacy Answers from Bumble
Several civil society organizations are calling on the dating app to clarify its data collection practices and take privacy seriously
Yesterday, UltraViolet, the nation’s largest online community of feminists, joined Mozilla and several other privacy, public interest organizations to call on Bumble to come clean as to whether they sell customer data — and to better protect customers’ privacy. Communities seeking reproductive health care, survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), and members of the LGBTQ+ community, are particularly vulnerable to devastating consequences to their livelihoods if such sensitive data is leaked.
READ THE FULL LETTER HERE: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/campaigns/civil-society-open-letter-urges-bumble-to-take-privacy-seriously/
Bumble is the second most popular dating app in the United States with about 50 million users, and is often lauded for its gender justice advocacy work. But privacy is a fundamental part of gender justice — and recent *Privacy Not Included research by Mozilla revealed several troubling questions about Bumble’s privacy practices and the industry at large. And just last week, Belgian university researchers found that Bumble and Hinge allowed stalkers to identify user location with an accuracy of just 2 meters.
Mozilla researchers could not determine if and how Bumble sells consumer data to third parties. The research also revealed ambiguity about Bumble’s data deletion features for users. Researchers reached out to Bumble to clarify questions in the policy but received no answers.
In response to these concerns, Mozilla and 12 civil society organizations, including UltraViolet, are publicly calling on Bumble to:
- Clarify in unambiguous terms whether or not Bumble sells customer data, and identify what data or personal information Bumble sells, and to which partners, noting if any would be considered data brokers.
- If the answer is yes, Bumble should immediately stop selling customer data
- Strengthen customers’ consent mechanism to opt in to the sharing of data, rather than opt out.
The organizations who have signed Mozilla’s letter are Access Now, Accountable Tech, Amnesty International, Civil Liberties Union for Europe, CyberLove, Defend Democracy, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Kairos Fellowship, UltraViolet, and US Public Interest Research Group.
Earlier this year, Mozilla also launched a petition urging Bumble not to sell or share users’ data without their permission. Over 7,500 people have signed the petition.
Jenna Sherman, Campaign Director, UltraViolet says, “At a time when the rights of women, trans people, and queer people are under heightened attack, Bumble’s lack of data sharing transparency is concerning and frankly unacceptable. If a company benefits from presenting as an advocate for gender justice, that advocacy must be actually baked into their policies for us to take them seriously.”
Says Reem Suleiman, Mozilla’s U.S. Advocacy Lead: “Bumble’s ambiguity around user privacy isn’t right — but it is common. Mozilla research has found that dating apps are notoriously bad at user privacy, and they’re only getting worse. As one of the largest dating apps in the U.S. — and one that has signaled a commitment to gender justice — Bumble has a responsibility to be transparent and fair about customer privacy. It also has an opportunity to set a precedent and push the industry in a better direction.”
Evan Greer (she/they), Director, at Fight for the Future “Bumble can’t have it both ways. It can’t be in solidarity with gender justice movements while selling people’s personal information like sexual preferences and location history. Not when this sensitive data can be used to criminalize people seeking abortions, threaten the lives of survivors of intimate partner violence, and out people in the LGBTQ+ community. Bumble needs to fix this. Full stop. The founder literally says “user safety on the app is paramount.” If that’s really true, then it needs to protect people’s privacy and stop selling their data. Bumble has a real opportunity here to change its practices to support its own stance on safety and human rights.”
Irna Landrum, Senior Campaigner, at Kairos “Dating apps make matches by collecting incredible amounts of personal information like location and sexual identity, but selling this data should never be part of the deal. It’s on Bumble to prove to users that the company is actually willing to put user’s privacy over the business of data extraction. Until then, Bumble cannot continue to brag about being a place where people find genuine relationships when they operate as yet another tech company mining our lives for their profit.”
Kaili Lambe, Policy and Advocacy Director at Accountable Tech “Companies like Bumble owe it to their customers to be upfront about how their personal data is used. If they are exploiting customer data for profit, they should also cease participation in the toxic business model of surveillance advertising. Everyone deserves to have control over their personal information and to make informed decisions about how it can be used.”
Michael De Dora, U.S. Policy and Advocacy Manager at Access Now, “Online dating should unlock love, not privacy violations. Dating apps gather extensive sensitive and intimate details about people, including sexual preferences and precise locations. However, Bumble, one of the leading dating apps in the U.S., has repeatedly failed to address concerns about its data collection and protection practices. We urge Bumble to fulfill its corporate responsibility to safeguard its users’ information by taking this matter seriously.”
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