Tinder and Co: Despite database – Match Group admits offenders

Since the end of 2021, the share price of the Match Group, which includes Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge and controls more than half of the dating market worldwide, has plummeted by over 80 percent. A new investigative investigation is unlikely to slow this slide. There are reports that the Match Group maintains a file of reported incidents and offenders – but does not use it.

The "Dating Apps Reporting Project" team, a collaboration between the Pulitzer Center AI Accountability Network, The Markup, CalMatters and the Guardian, created more than 50 test accounts on Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish. The aim was to find out how the Match Group responds to reports of sexual assault and whether banned users can easily create new accounts. The tests took place in two rounds: once in April and May 2024 and again in January and February 2025. The results were similar in both cases.

First, it was tested whether and how quickly Tinder blocks users who have been reported for sexual assault. The result: In all cases, the reported users were blocked within two days.

However, the investigation revealed that blocked users were often able to create new Tinder accounts with exactly the same personal data using the same phone number – including name, date of birth and profile photos. It was also possible to re-register with other services from the Match Group, such as Hinge, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish, without changing this data.

Internal documents show: Match Group had known about attacks for years

According to leaked internal documents and statements from former employees, Match Group has known which users were reported for knockout drops, sexual assault or rape since 2016 at the latest. Since 2019, a central company database has been storing all reports of rape and assault across all apps. By 2022, this system – called Sentinel – recorded hundreds of such incidents every week, according to insiders.

Sentinel stores profile photos, phone numbers, date of birth, IP addresses and more. The database is actually intended to prevent people who have been blocked from registering again or elsewhere. However, according to the Guardian, this is exactly what did not happen.

In 2020, the Match Group announced that it would publish a transparency report listing reported cases. But by February 2025, this report had not been published.

Instead, according to the report, the company discussed internally which information should be withheld. A presentation from 2021, which is said to have been shown to both employees and external security partners, contained the question: "Do we only publish what we are legally obliged to? Do we reject stricter requirements or do we go beyond the minimum requirements?"

In a statement, however, the Match Group described itself as a leader in the development of security measures. The company refers to the use of AI-supported tools to prevent harassment, ID verification for profiles and a platform for cooperation with law enforcement authorities. However, there is clearly a lack of actual intervention. In addition, there are security gaps, as was most recently discovered last summer. Security researchers showed how they were able to view data such as sexual orientation, online status and more.

(mack)