Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg flirted with the idea of getting into the online dating business in 2014 — but truth or dare sex videosinstead gave Tinder and similar apps access to user data, leaked documents show.
The leaked documentswere released Wednesday and are a part of an ongoing lawsuit between Facebook and Six4Three, a long-defunct app that scraped Facebook data to find photos of women in bikinis.
Facebook made the decision to stop third-party apps from accessing user data — such as friend lists and liked pages — in 2014 and gave most apps until May 2015 to comply to the new policy, according to Forbes. Some apps, however, received “whitelist” privileges to continue accessing the data. Tinder was one of them.
According to a leaked March 2015 email exchange, Tinder was given special permissions under the condition that the app permit Facebook to share rights in Tinder’s trademark of “MOMENTS.” Other dating apps, such as Bumble, Hinge, and Coffee Meets Bagel, were also whitelisted; one reason given was “because they are getting high profile.”
A year prior, however, Zuckerberg stated that he thought Facebook was a better dating app than Tinder and Match.com. He said that there were two types of dating apps: one designed for the task of matching people, in which the latter two fell, and apps that can be used for dating but not designed for that task, in which Facebook fell. “I actually think the second is far more valuable and useful if it can be created,” Zuckerberg wrote in a January 2014 email.
“Historically, this is why Facebook has been so good for dating. It isn’t explicitly a dating service, so there’s no stigma to being a part of it. But once you’re there, a part of it can be used for dating. I’d bet that more dates and relationships start on Facebook than all of the other dating services combined,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The same month, the Facebook CEO declined to meet Tinder cofounder Rad. “No on wanting to meet the Tinder guy. I don’t think he’s that relevant. He probably just wants to make sure we won’t turn off their API, which we will adjust as part of our changes, and since we can’t talk about that the conversation will be awkward,” Zuckerberg said.
The documents shed light on how Facebook hoarded and doled out user data before the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Last year, Tinder crashedwhen Facebook made post-scandal damage control and changed its data policy once again.
Facebook launched its own dating featurein September of this year, five years after Zuckerberg noted Facebook’s superiority in the online dating sphere. Tinder said in a statement, "Tinder resolved the trademark dispute with Facebook years ago. Tinder never received any special treatment, data or access related to this dispute or its resolution."
Mashable has reached out to Facebook for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
UPDATE: Nov. 11, 2019, 9:01 a.m. EST This article has been updated to include comment from Tinder.
(Editor: {typename type="name"/})
Meta says some AGI systems are too risky to release
Xbox Game Pass subscribers will soon be able to enjoy an E3
Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for June 7
Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for June 7
Man City vs. Real Madrid 2025 livestream: Watch Champions League for free
What are NFTs? Everything you need to know.
This perfect song reminds us why it's not such a scary time for boys
Protesters shine torches, lights onto the Sydney Opera House
Ms. Frizzle spotted at Science Marches across the globe
Twitter user named Brett Kavanagh kicks off an impromptu support group
Amazon CEO tries to sell kids on working on the moon
Twitter launches new Product Drops shopping feature on iOS devices
接受PR>=1、BR>=1,流量相当,内容相关类链接。