Hookup App Tinder's Security Problems Lasted for Weeks, Not Hours
When a company tells you that it was insecurely broadcasting your exact GPS location and Facebook profile for mere "hours," you hope you can trust them. That's what hookup app Tinder told us about its recent vulnerability, and it turns out, no, that wasn't true.
After yesterday's post, software engineer Mike Soares took to Facebook and Twitter, saying he'd informed Tinder about the privacy hole back on July 8th, weeks before the first known instance. He provided the following email exchange, which looks real, and shows an entire week between his first contact with Tinder and any sort of reply:
When I spoke to a Tinder rep yesterday, she emphasized that any security lapse—which allowed anyone on your wireless network with the right knowhow to intercept your exact location and Facebook details—was brief. She also made it seem as if there had only been one security hole, as opposed to a series of software flaws, as Quartz reports.
Tinder has yet to reply to these latest revelations, nor has it posted a message about the security situation on its blog or directly informed its many users, who probably want to know about something like this as they cruise for sex on their iPhones.
Update: We've confirmed the validity of those emails from Soares.