EFF calls for dating apps to learn the meaning of consent

In a blog article, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) writes that dating apps, rather than users, should be responsible for ensuring online safety and privacy. They argue that dating apps are prioritising the development of artificial intelligence (AI) tools over safeguarding user privacy, often by using highly sensitive personal information, including private messages, to train their AI models.

Examples include Grindr's gay wingman bot, Tinder's profile picture selection tool, OKCupid's photo editing partnership, Hinge's AI prompt writer and Bumble's AI Icebreakers. The latter is subject to a EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) complaint for transparency and processing violations filed with the Austrian data protection authority (DPA) by NOYB in June 2025.

The EFF highlights the severity of the data protection risks, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community, given the vast amounts of intimate data, from sexual preferences to precise location, collected by these platforms. EFF are calling for opt-in consent for AI training data obtained from private messages and for data minimisation practices, claiming that users have a right to privacy and a reasonable expectation that their private communications will not be used without explicit consent.