Researchers Pen Test Partners say four popular mobile applications offering dating and meetup services have security flaws which allow for the precise location tracking of users.
This week, Pen Test Partners said that Grindr, Romeo, and Recon have all been leaking the precise location of users and it has been possible to develop a tool able to collate the exposed GPS coordinates. The research builds upon a report released last week by Pen Test Partners that related to the safety of relationship application 3Fun.
3Fun, a mobile application for arranging threesomes and dates, had some of the “worst security for any dating app we’ve ever seen,” according to the team. It was found that 3Fun was not only leaking the locations of users but also information including their dates of birth, sexual preferences, pictures, and chat data…
Failure to secure and mask the true locations of users is problematic, but in some countries, these leaks could represent a real risk to individual safety… In Saudi Arabia, for example, you can see users who may be persecuted for their sexual preferences — with particular reference to the LGBT+ community — as well as their overall sexual activities. In some cases, the researchers said that locations of eight decimal places in latitude/longitude were reported, which suggests that highly accurate GPS data is being stored on servers.
MacDailyNews Take: Happy dating, everyone!
So much for App store vetting.
Sh!tcan Tim Cook!