Capture Hearts, Not Data

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and, if you’re single, you may be tempted to download (or re-download) a dating app to meet someone new. If you decide to turn to online dating this cuffing season, take a look at your chosen platform's privacy policy. More and more dating apps are embracing surveillance technologies. Industry giant Match Group is rolling out mandatory verification processes that require facial recognition across some of the apps in its portfolio.

In 2022, the Pew Research Center conducted a study to determine how common online dating was among U.S. adults. The findings revealed that 53% of U.S. adults under 30 “report having ever used a dating site or app compared with 37% of those ages 30 to 49, 20% of those 50 to 64 and 13% of those 65 and older.”[1] That same study found that 46% of online dating users have used Tinder. Match (31%) and Bumble (28%) were the second and third most used apps. Of the six most popular dating platforms, only one, Bumble, is not owned by Match Group, Inc. (and not for lack of trying).

Match Group has dominated online dating since the industry first began taking shape in 1995. The company now owns over 45 distinct dating sites. Their holdings include identity-specific sites like Dil Mil (for South Asian people), Chispa (for Latinx people), and BLK (for Black people). If you’re like me, you might be thinking, “Damn, we can’t have nothing.” And you’d be correct. Match Group has a habit of spending millions, if not hundreds of millions, to buy out the competition.

What does their monopolization of the online dating industry mean for users? Without meaningful competition, the company does not face a real threat that users will leave its apps or services and search for other options.[2] Match Group can allow the user experience to deteriorate by providing lower-quality matches or overloading its apps with ads that push users toward more expensive tiers. The company can also use its various apps to determine how to squeeze the absolute most money out of those users who are willing to pay. Little competition also means that Match Group has less incentive to invest in robust data security.

I am particularly concerned with data privacy. In general, dating app firms reserve the right to share user data with other users, other apps or “affiliates” under the same corporate umbrella, and third-party firms including service providers, advertisers, and law enforcement. In addition to collecting demographic data such as race, age, and gender, dating apps also collect sexual orientation, interests, pictures and videos, chats between users, IP addresses, and usage information (e.g. how long you spend on the app and on each picture before swiping). Now, in the name of “trust and safety,” Match Group wants even more of its users' data. More specifically, it wants users’ facial data.

On October 22, 2025, Tinder announced the rollout of its Face Check feature, which is now required for users in seven countries and in the state of California. New users must upload a short selfie video within the app to confirm “... a) that the person is real and physically present and b) that their face matches the one shown in their profile photos.” Tinder boasted that it will be “the first major dating app to integrate mandatory facial liveness verification directly into the onboarding experience…” The app intends to expand the feature to other states in 2026. In another announcement, Match Group said that it intends to introduce Face Check across different apps in its portfolio this year.

While Tinder and Match Group did not announce the name of the company that makes Face Check possible, Kevin Alan Tussy, the CEO of a company called FaceTec, announced that they would be “supporting Match Group in their fight against fraudsters and bots on their dating platforms” in an enthusiastic LinkedIn post this past fall. FaceTec is a San Diego-based tech company that has patented a face verification software called 3D FaceMap that allows for “ongoing re-verification.” FaceTec is currently recruiting and hiring people who have spent decades working in DMV offices across the country in order to push states to require the use of its software to renew driver’s licenses and state IDs.

Additionally, FaceTec lists on its website the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as one of its many partners and serves as a co-sponsor of the Border Technology Summit. Hosted by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement, the Summit is branded as an event that “brings together over 300 senior leaders from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, state and local law enforcement, alongside industry innovators to advance the future of border security and management.”

Beyond its state-level lobbying efforts, it is likely that FaceTec is angling for a contract with federal government agencies, many of which already use facial recognition technology. For example, ICE and Border Patrol agents reportedly use the app Mobile Fortify for real-time — error-riddled — identification with face and fingerprint data. According to an internal DHS document reported on by 404 Media, ICE does not allow individuals to refuse scanning, regardless of citizenship status, and the photos captured will be stored for 15 years. To be clear, Mobile Fortify is not a product of FaceTec; it relies on technology supplied by NEC Corporation. However, as of 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses FaceTec’s software for its Electronic System for Travel Authorization. The partnership with Match Group may give FaceTec the data that it needs to sharpen its facial recognition technology and make the case for its further participation in government surveillance.

In 2026, surveillance is all around us: license plate readers, doorbell recordings, and photos at airport security (opt out!).[3] The dating app experience is a particularly vulnerable one. Users provide data to online platforms in hopes of finding meaningful connections, and they deserve safety, which includes safety from surveillance. All I want for Valentine’s Day is for you, dear reader, to hold your biometric data close. Don't allow a private company or government agency to scan your face if you can help it. Maybe try finding love through a community-based volunteer organization or running club. Those don’t require face scans, at least not yet.

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Dr. Reagan Nicole is a racial justice researcher and scholar of Communication. She is currently teaching at Stanford.

Selected sources and additional reading:
[1] Vogels, Emily A., and Colleen McClain. "Key findings about online dating in the U.S." Pew Research Center, February 2, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/02/02/key-findings-about-online-dating-in-the-u-s/.
[2] Gilbert, Evan M. "Antitrust and Commitment Issues: Monopolization of the Dating App Industry." NYU Law Review 94, no. 4 (2019): 862-898, https://www.nyulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/NYULAWREVIEW-94-4-Gilbert.pdf.
[3] Buolamwini, Joy, Sushma Raman, and Andrea Dean. "How Airport Travelers Experience TSA's Facial Recognition Experiment." Algorithmic Justice League, July 2025. https://www.ajl.org/flyreport.

Sage Your Algorithm with Brian Friedberg

In 2025, YouTube passed Netflix and other rivals to claim the #1 spot for streaming video, and remains the second largest search engine in the world. Demographics of YouTube skew young, male, and with greater class and ethnic diversity of users than most major platforms. YouTube is an important site for political expression, but it's mostly been framed as a site of rabbitholes, radicalization, and disinformation propagated by the alt-right and QAnon movements. Today, TV and cable news is being conglomerated, censored, and bent to corporate interests more concerned with preserving their bottom line and capitulating to the current administration.

This recurring section is designed to highlight some of the best critical work coming from a new generation of creators on YouTube fighting back against corruption and fascism. Left and progressive content creators, many of whom are young men, are speaking up and acting out in a popular front against the redpill manosphere, MAGA propaganda spox, and white nationalist trolls. Each issue, we’ll recommend an independent journalist or news influencer to follow to enhance your YouTube recommendations, and help signal-boost some of the best creatives who are speaking truth to power.

Cam Jones: The FUBU Scammer Red Flag Starter Pack

Cam Jones is an Atlanta-based investigative documentary filmmaker, who educates his audience on scams targeting Black people both within and from outside the community. He’s taken on cults, frauds, grifters, white nationalists, and exploitative industries since starting production in 2023. Cam is a great example of a new crop of progressive male creators fighting back attention from manosphere rage-bait, demonstrating a take-no-prisoners honesty with a deep commitment to intersectional allyship. Give Cam a follow to sage your algorithm.

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**TONIGHT** February 11, 2026 – 7 p.m. ET
Location: Virtual
Hosts: The African American Policy Forum

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April 17-19, 2026
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Sponsors: MediaJustice and Mijente

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LitleSis Trainings
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Sponsor: LittleSis (Public Accountability Initiative)

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