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SafetyScorer

Is OkCupid safe?

OkCupid

OkCupid asks more personal questions than almost any dating app, and its record on keeping those answers private is poor. The FTC says it handed nearly three million user photos plus location data to an outside company and then denied it. The 2026 settlement bars misleading privacy claims but carries no fine.

Medium confidence#65 of 79 apps
Updated
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#65of 79 apps

Medium confidence
Owner
Match Group (operated by Humor Rainbow, Inc.)
Downloads
Over 50 million (Google Play)
App Store label
Purchases, identifiers and usage data used to track you
FTC order
Filed March 2026, court-approved 30 April 2026; no money
Photos shared
Nearly 3 million, with location data, to an outside company (FTC)
2020 app flaws
Found by Check Point, fixed within 48 hours
Messages
Encrypted in transit; no End-to-end encryptionEncryption in which only the sender and the recipient can read a message. The company running the service cannot see its content.More in the glossary claimed
Age rating
18+

How the score breaks down

The overall score is the weighted average of these factors. Scoring rules

  • Privacy30% of score

    32 out of 100, Poor

    Apple's label lists purchases, identifiers and usage data used to track you, and coarse location and device IDs for third-party advertising. The FTC says OkCupid gave nearly three million user photos, plus location and other data, to an unrelated company without telling users.

  • Security30% of score

    52 out of 100, Weak

    Google Play says data is encrypted in transit; no End-to-end encryptionEncryption in which only the sender and the recipient can read a message. The company running the service cannot see its content.More in the glossary is claimed. In 2020 Check Point found app flaws that could expose messages and sexual orientation; OkCupid fixed them within 48 hours and said no user was affected.

  • Transparency and control15% of score

    48 out of 100, Weak

    Google Play lists a way to request deletion. But the FTC says OkCupid broke its own privacy policy, gave users no chance to opt out, and denied to users and the media that it was involved with the company that got their data.

  • Scams and harmful content15% of score

    45 out of 100, Weak

    Romance and crypto scammers target all large dating apps, and OkCupid's long profiles give them material to build rapport. Match Group runs shared trust and safety and moderation teams across its brands; OkCupid publishes no figures on fake accounts removed.

  • Regulatory record10% of score

    45 out of 100, Weak

    An FTC order approved in April 2026 permanently bars OkCupid and Match Group from misrepresenting their data practices; the FTC alleged they concealed the sharing and obstructed its inquiry. No money was paid. Match Group also paid $14 million in a 2025 FTC case over Match.com.

Is OkCupid safe?

OkCupid is an average dating app for scams and a poor one for privacy. It asks you to answer questions about politics, religion, sex and drugs so it can match you, which makes what it does with your data matter more than on most apps. In March 2026 the US Federal Trade Commission said OkCupid had given nearly three million user photos, along with location and other information, to an unrelated company, and then told users and journalists it had nothing to do with it. We score OkCupid 44/100, below Tinder at 50 and Match at 51.

OkCupid launched in 2004 and belongs to Match Group, which describes its users as "culturally progressive" and concentrated in large English-speaking cities.

What the FTC found about OkCupid's photos

The FTC's complaint, announced on 30 March 2026, says an outside company asked for large OkCupid datasets because OkCupid's founders were investors in it. OkCupid had no business relationship with that company, but gave it access to nearly three million user photos plus location and other details, "without placing any formal or contractual restrictions on how the information could be used". Trade press named the company as Clarifai, which builds image recognition.

OkCupid's privacy policy said it shared personal data only with service providers, business partners and other Match Group companies, or with notice and a chance to opt out. The FTC says users got neither. It also alleges that after a news story revealed the data transfer, "OkCupid claimed to the media and OkCupid users that it was not involved with the third party", and that OkCupid and Match tried to obstruct the investigation. The agency had to go to court to enforce its demand for documents; a judge granted that petition in part in June 2025.

The settlement was filed in federal court in Dallas and approved on 30 April 2026. It permanently bars OkCupid and Match Group from misrepresenting how they collect, use, share, delete or protect data such as photos and location, why they collect it, and how their privacy controls work. There is no fine. According to Global Dating Insights, Match said the practices were outdated and "do not reflect how OkCupid operates today".

What OkCupid collects now

Apple's privacy label lists purchases, identifiers and usage data that may be used to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Coarse location, device IDs, product interaction and advertising data are linked to you for third-party advertising. Precise location, photos and "sensitive info" are linked to your identity for OkCupid's own analytics and personalisation. On Google Play, OkCupid says app interactions are shared with other companies for advertising and fraud prevention, data is encrypted in transit, and you can request deletion.

Security and scams

In July 2020 Check Point Research disclosed flaws in OkCupid's Android app and API server that could have let an attacker, via a malicious link, read a victim's profile, messages and sexual orientation, and send messages as them. OkCupid fixed them within 48 hours and said not a single user was affected. We found no confirmed breach of OkCupid user data since. OkCupid does not say its messages are End-to-end encryptionEncryption in which only the sender and the recipient can read a message. The company running the service cannot see its content.More in the glossary.

Scams are the everyday risk. The FTC counted nearly 70,000 US romance scam reports and $1.3 billion in losses in 2022. OkCupid's long answers give a scammer easy material to mirror your values and build trust quickly. Match Group's annual report says its Face Check verification launched at Tinder in 2025 and will come to other brands; it gives no date for OkCupid.

How to use OkCupid more safely

  1. Answer only the questions you would be comfortable seeing in public, and skip the ones on drugs, sex and politics if they are not essential to you.
  2. Use photos that do not appear on your LinkedIn or Instagram, so a stranger cannot find you with a reverse image search.
  3. Be wary of a match whose answers agree with yours on everything, who avoids video calls, or who moves the chat to WhatsApp.
  4. Never send money or crypto to someone you have not met.
  5. On iPhone, choose "Ask App Not to Track" when the app asks.

How we scored it

Privacy (32) is the weakest factor: the FTC case shows photos and location leaving the company without consent, and the app still shares data for advertising. The regulatory record (45) reflects the 2026 FTC order and the alleged concealment, even without a fine. Security (52) is middling, with quickly fixed app flaws and no confirmed breach, and scams (45) are about as common as on other large dating apps.

Questions people ask

Did OkCupid sell user photos?

The FTC does not say they were sold. It says OkCupid gave an unrelated company access to nearly three million user photos, plus location and other data, because OkCupid's founders had invested in that company, with no contract limiting how the data could be used. Trade press named the company as Clarifai, which builds image-recognition AI.

Was OkCupid fined by the FTC?

No. The 2026 settlement is an order without money. It permanently bars OkCupid and Match Group from misrepresenting how they collect, use, share or protect personal data and how their privacy controls work, and lets the FTC monitor compliance.

Is my OkCupid data still at risk?

The sharing the FTC describes dates back to 2014. What you can control now is what you put in your profile and answers. OkCupid's questions cover politics, religion, sex and drug use; answer only what you would be comfortable seeing leaked, and keep answers private where the app allows.

Is OkCupid safer than Tinder?

Not on privacy. Tinder faces a proposed Irish GDPRThe EU's General Data Protection Regulation, which sets rules on how organisations collect and use personal data and allows large fines.More in the glossary fine, but OkCupid has an FTC order over sharing photos without consent. On scams the two are similar, since both are run by Match Group with shared trust and safety systems. Tinder's Face Check video selfie is a stronger check against fake profiles than anything OkCupid has announced.

How do I delete my OkCupid account?

OkCupid's Google Play listing says the developer provides a way to request that your data be deleted, and apps sold through Apple must let you delete your account inside the app. If you pay through Apple or Google, cancel the subscription in the store first, because deleting the account does not stop billing.

Sources

  1. 1.FTC Takes Action Against Match and OkCupid for Deceiving Users by Sharing Personal Data with Third Party (opens in a new tab) · Federal Trade Commission, 2026
  2. 2.Match Group Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (opens in a new tab) · Match Group / SEC, 2026
  3. 3.OkCupid App Store listing and App Privacy label (opens in a new tab) · Apple App Store, 2026
  4. 4.OkCupid on Google Play, data safety section (opens in a new tab) · Google Play, 2026
  5. 5.FTC settles with Match Group over OkCupid user data sharing (opens in a new tab) · Global Dating Insights, 2026
  6. 6.Hacker, 22, seeks LTR with your data: vulnerabilities found on popular OkCupid dating app (opens in a new tab) · Check Point Research, 2020
  7. 7.Match Group Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025 (opens in a new tab) · Match Group / SEC, 2026
  8. 8.Romance scammers' favorite lies exposed (opens in a new tab) · Federal Trade Commission, 2023
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