Privacy

To use the app, you must sign up with your Facebook account or your phone number. According to Tinder, this is to ensure matches are made with people who share interests and common friends. That being said, Tinder doesn’t post to your Facebook profile, so if you’re concerned about friends getting updates about your use of the site, at least on this point, you can rest easy.

Tinder also gives itself access to the content of your chats when you’re using the app and may share your personal data with third parties for advertising purposes.

Tinder is part of the Match Group of businesses, which includes Plenty of Fish, OkCupid and Match. Your information may be shared with other businesses in this group. Tinder and OkCupid have recently come under fire following the release of a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council which found that the apps are sharing personal user information with third parties.

You are able to view the personal data that Tinder has collected about you by using the Download my Data tool and you can also request its deletion.

Zoosk

Matching: To register, you fill out a profile, which you can do by signing up with Facebook, and then populate your profile with more information like your interests or your ideal date. You can meet singles using three methods: by searching for them by distance and age, by using the “Carousel” (which works similarly to Tinder), or by using SmartPick (which evaluates compatibility between Zoosk members and makes match recommendations). Zoosk claims to learn from your actions as you use the site, therefore making more suitable matches as you use the site more.

Zoosk offers free and paid memberships, and a pay-as-you-go system using “Zoosk Coins”. The free profiles function as a preview – if you want to communicate with users on the site you have to pay for a membership.

Free: Members can create a profile, search for singles, and send introductory winks, but they can’t send or receive messages.

Paid: Memberships cost $ per month for six-months, $ per month for three-months or $ a month paid monthly. Memberships auto-renew unless you cancel your membership before it expires. With a paid membership, you can send and receive messages and winks, chat with connections, see profiles of those who have viewed yours, and get full access to Smartpick, Zoosk’s matching services.

Subscription upgrades: You can pay extra to unlock premium features, like Premium Messaging (which allows people with free membership to reply to your messages without subscribing), Hide & Seek (allows visibility control, including hiding your profile) and Instant Crush (lets another member know that you don’t just like them; you have a crush on them).

Zoosk Coins: You can also earn or buy Zoosk “Coins”, which unlock your matches, allow you to send virtual gifts, boost your profile, and get delivery confirmations on emails, among other features. Coins cost $ for 180, up to $ for 1800 coins. Coins can be earned by using or signing up to various third-party apps, surveys, services and websites.

Privacy

If you sign up to Zoosk and give the site access to one of your social media profiles, such as Twitter or Facebook, they may make posts on your behalf on that platform, and they may also gather information about your friends.

Think twice about giving Zoosk access to your address book – they keep your contacts on file and may later use your information to suggest friends and connections to other members. If they invite your friends, they may out you as being a Zoosk user by extending the invitation on your behalf. (While there’s no shame in dating online, you might not want it advertised to your nearest and dearest.) By signing up to Zoosk, you grant permission for all your user content to be used for purposes including advertising or transmission to a third party.