Leak data of 42 million users for dating applications

science and technology

A Chinese database revealed 42.5 million records of users leaked from a range of common dating applications. The database was discovered by security researcher Jeremy Fuller, who said it was not password-protected and the majority of leaked records appear to be US users.

According to the Daily Mail newspaper, the real problem is that the data left blank revealed IP addresses for users, geographical location, age and user names.

Dating applications from which information has been withdrawn include Cougardating, Christiansfinder, Mingler, Fwbs, and TS Dating.

Fuller used user age, location, and account names to identify them on other applications and services and verify that they were genuine.

"Finding a real identity for users was easy and it took only a few seconds to verify it," Fowler wrote in a publication in which he published his findings. "Almost every user's name appeared on multiple dating sites and forums and other public places."

"The IP address and location stored in the database confirmed the location that the user placed in his other profiles using the same user name."

Fowler tried to contact the database owner, but e-mails and calls were not answered. As a result, the database was still online and unsafe, but Fuller chose to disclose his findings in an effort to educate the user.

While some personal data, such as usernames and locations, was shared, Fuller noted that fortunately, personal identification information, which included real names or social security numbers, was not shared.