Fines, rulings, new laws and safety rules that affect dating apps.
Hundreds of Southeast Asian scam compounds use trafficking victims to run romance fraud, the UN says, and replay attacks are defeating dating app selfie checks.
Meta says it has no current plans to launch Facebook Dating in Australia, despite 15 million local users, sparing Match Group and Bumble a new rival.
Australia's mandatory Online Dating Code, the first of its kind, began 1 April and gives Match Group and Bumble six months to comply.
Match Group issued a cease-and-desist to a British man over a parody Tinder app featuring only his wife's profile, alleging IP violations.
Sapphos, a Brazilian lesbian dating app, exposed 17,000 users' government IDs and selfies through an IDOR flaw and shut down in early November.
Ofcom will brief dating operators on Online Safety Act duties on 6 February; fines reach up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.
Ofcom's trial found a gamified dating app simulator improved scam detection versus static warnings, with effects lasting at least four weeks after one session.
Garbo, the nonprofit background check service on Tinder and other Match Group apps, has shut down after its partnership with Match ended.
18 of 24 popular dating apps scored D or F for data protection in a Business Digital Index audit. Only Bumble and EliteSingles got B grades.
Match Group will pay $14 million to settle FTC allegations it used alerts from suspected fake accounts to drive subscriptions.
Tea disabled messaging after researchers found 1.1 million private messages exposed, its second breach in under a week after 72,000 leaked images.
Zimperium says over 250 fake dating apps stole intimate photos and data from Android and iOS users, mainly in South Korea, to extort victims.
Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, Grindr and Feeld will require UK users to verify age by selfie video or government ID from 25 July 2025, per Ofcom guidance.
Northwestern Medicine study: nearly one in four American teens aged 16-17 used dating apps in six months, three to four times prior estimates.
Greed Dating says its facial verification costs £0.80 per thousand users, a self-reported figure that challenges big platforms' cost objections.
Coffee Meets Bagel now mandates Singpass verification in Singapore, and says 70% of users there have completed it.
India's Supreme Court has granted Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal interim protection in a criminal case over alleged fraud through its Select Shaadi tier.
Grindr has begun requiring all UK users to verify age by facial biometrics or government ID before Online Safety Act enforcement on 25 July.
Tinder has made Face Check video selfie verification mandatory for new users in California, the first compulsory check from a major dating app.
Dutch court upholds €50 million in fines against Apple for forcing dating apps onto its in-app payment system. Apple will appeal.
TikTok's 'dating for dinner' trend, where users take dates for free meals, could erode subscriber trust in dating apps.
Fewer than 1,000 users have signed up to Browser Dating, an art project that matches people on their last 5,000 visited websites.
Ashley Madison has launched Discreet View Mode, blurring profiles by default and free to all members, unlike premium-gated rivals.
A study of 1,044 US adults links heavy dating app use to more depression and anxiety, raising the risk of social media-style regulation for operators.
ACCC sues eHarmony in federal court over alleged hidden auto-renewal terms in 2021 and 2022 free trials, with some users pursued by debt collectors.
Sniffies was removed from Apple's App Store months after its March 2025 iOS launch, with 'ongoing content restrictions' cited.
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 2024 Online Nation Report says unique users and time spent on dating apps have fallen, with British users distrusting app algorithms.
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 exposed data on over 500,000 users through an unsecured API and never implemented its advertised encryption, then closed in January 2025.
eHarmony says Imperial College research links dating app swiping to hormonal changes like gambling addiction, but the sample size is undisclosed.
A Journal of Interpersonal Violence study of 5,000 men found child sex offenders are significantly more likely to use dating apps.
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.
Dating apps, mainly Grindr, distributed over 500,000 free HIV test kits via Building Healthy Online Communities between 2023 and early 2025.
Seven dating platforms including Match Group, Bumble and Grindr signed Australia's voluntary safety code, with first progress reports due 1 July.
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, 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.
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 requires all users, new and existing, to pass an AI-powered liveness check or lose access, ahead of UK Online Safety Act enforcement.
Grindr has added a OneTrust consent platform letting free users choose personalised or generic ads, with health data and messages excluded, it says.
Seeking.com now requires AI facial verification for new users only and exempts all existing members from biometric checks.
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 voluntary dating app code carries no fines, but an eSafety Commissioner review due early 2026 will decide if penalties follow.
Mozilla found 22 of 25 dating apps failed its privacy standards, including nine run by Match Group and three by Bumble. Only Lex passed.
Australian dating app users are using ChatGPT and RIZZ to write profiles, while Match Group and Bumble have no clear AI content policies.
From 4 March, Google will ban dating advertisers without certification from Search, Display and YouTube, putting smaller dating apps at risk.
SeniorMatch has made live video verification with human review mandatory for all new members, aiming to catch AI-generated fake profiles.
Dutch banks say dating fraud victims lose an average of €25,000 per scam, and the NVB reports 'pig butchering' cases up 25% since 2022.
Greed Dating says it built AI cyberflashing detection in hours with open-source models and ChatGPT, but has disclosed no accuracy rates.
MillionaireMatch has launched Confidentiality Guard, an opt-in mutual NDA letting users take legal action over shared profile information.
Regulation follows the rules that shape dating apps: the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom's codes, the EU Digital Services Act, data protection fines under GDPR, US Federal Trade Commission cases, state laws, court rulings and age verification requirements. DII reports from the regulator's or court's own documents and explains what each decision means for compliance teams and operating costs. Rulings and new rules also go into DII's regulation tracker.