Hayley Birkin
Reporter, Finance, Regulation and People, Dating Industry Insights. Edited by Bill Alena.
Hayley Birkin reports on the business of online dating for Dating Industry Insights: earnings, funding rounds, deals and valuations, the laws and regulators that shape the sector, and the people who lead it.
619 stories. Latest: .
Regulation stories by Hayley Birkin, page 9 of 10
- Sniffies' App Store Exit: Apple's Policies Aren't Built for Queer Platforms
Sniffies was removed from Apple's App Store months after its March 2025 iOS launch, with 'ongoing content restrictions' cited.
- Japan's Court Rulings on Romance Fraud: A Liability Blueprint for Dating Apps
Japanese courts have awarded damages for 'lost life opportunities' to women deceived by married men on dating apps, in at least two cases this year.
- Ofcom's Report Exposes Dating Apps' Trust Crisis: Algorithms Under Fire
Ofcom's 2024 Online Nation Report says unique users and time spent on dating apps have fallen, with British users distrusting app algorithms.
- Match Group Joins Stop Scams UK. Compliance or Real Fraud Fix?
Match Group has joined Stop Scams UK, linking Tinder, Hinge and Plenty of Fish to a shared fraud network with banks, Meta and BT.
- Raw Dating's Encryption Lie: A Case Study in Regulatory Failure
Raw Dating exposed data on over 500,000 users through an unsecured API and never implemented its advertised encryption, then closed in January 2025.
- Dating Apps' Design Flaw: A Regulatory Time Bomb for Single Parents
A Journal of Interpersonal Violence study of 5,000 men found child sex offenders are significantly more likely to use dating apps.
- eHarmony's Swipe Addiction Study: A Regulatory Storm in the Making?
eHarmony says Imperial College research links dating app swiping to hormonal changes like gambling addiction, but the sample size is undisclosed.
- Washington's Dating App Tax: A Misguided Attempt at Social Harm Levy
Washington's House Bill 1870 would tax dating app users $1 a month, aimed at platforms with over 500,000 accounts, to fund domestic violence programmes.
- Grindr's HIV Test Kit Distribution: Public Health or PR Play?
Dating apps, mainly Grindr, distributed over 500,000 free HIV test kits via Building Healthy Online Communities between 2023 and early 2025.
- Australia's Ultimatum to Dating Apps: Voluntary Code or Regulation?
Seven dating platforms including Match Group, Bumble and Grindr signed Australia's voluntary safety code, with first progress reports due 1 July.
- Dating Apps Face Unavoidable Friction: Regulatory Pressure Mounts
Onfido, Sardine and the National Crime Agency say dating apps need ID checks and deepfake detection, as UK romance fraud losses hit £92.3M in 2023.
- Howdy's Compliance-First Strategy: A Blueprint for Beating Incumbents?
Howdy, a Brisbane-based rural dating app, has reached 14,000 users in 18 months, with ID checks built in before Australia's April conduct code.
- AI Catfishing: The Trust Crisis Dating Apps Can't Ignore
A Pour Moi study found 62% of 3,000 people failed to spot AI-generated dating profiles, while 57% said they were confident they could identify fakes.
- SugarDaddyMeet's Mandatory Verification: A Liability Shield Mainstream Apps Can't Ignore
SugarDaddyMeet requires all users, new and existing, to pass an AI-powered liveness check or lose access, ahead of UK Online Safety Act enforcement.
- Grindr's Consent Platform: Damage Control or Genuine User Empowerment?
Grindr has added a OneTrust consent platform letting free users choose personalised or generic ads, with health data and messages excluded, it says.
- Seeking's AI Verification: Security Theatre or Retention Strategy?
Seeking.com now requires AI facial verification for new users only and exempts all existing members from biometric checks.
- Ofcom's Age Verification Mandate: A Crisis-Driven Compliance Wake-Up Call
Ofcom has ordered dating platforms to introduce robust age verification by July 2025, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover for non-compliance.
- Australia's Dating Code: A Voluntary Test with Statutory Stakes
Australia's voluntary dating app code carries no fines, but an eSafety Commissioner review due early 2026 will decide if penalties follow.
- Mozilla's Privacy Review Exposes Match Group's Market Control Problem
Mozilla found 22 of 25 dating apps failed its privacy standards, including nine run by Match Group and three by Bumble. Only Lex passed.
- AI-Generated Profiles: Match and Bumble's Unseen Authenticity Crisis
Australian dating app users are using ChatGPT and RIZZ to write profiles, while Match Group and Bumble have no clear AI content policies.
Companies Hayley covers most
- Match Group (54)
- Grindr (25)
- Bumble (19)
- Meta (7)
- Matrimony.com (6)
- Ithaca Holdings (5)
- Aisle (5)
- ODDA (3)
- ParshipMeet Group (3)
- Hello Group (3)
The DII team
- Kim Harris, Reporter, Technology, Data and News
- Bill Alena, Editor and founder