A third-party app can use Grindr to expose your exact location
Back in March, a report revealed that Grindr suffered from flaws that could expose its users' personal information. The company issued a statement in response that said its location tracking feature is more akin to a square on an atlas and can't pinpoint users' exact location. According to a new investigation by Queer Europe, though, Grindr can still expose people's personal data through a third-party app called "Fuckr," which was released in 2015 and can locate up to 600 Grindr users within minutes. And by "locate," we mean it can tell where users are with an accuracy of 6 to 16 feet -- accurate enough to tell which establishment, house or even room they're in.
The free third party app is built on top of Grindr's private API, giving it access to the gay dating app's database. It uses a technique called "trilateration" to find users, allowing anyone with access to it a way to follow people around as they go about their day. All someone has to do to find users nearby is to use Fuckr's filters, which can narrow people based on their ethnicity, relationships and other data. Yes, because the app can tap into Grindr's database, it can reveal not only users' locations, but also their photo, body type, ethnicity, HIV status, last HIV test and even their sexual position preference.
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This is the type of stuff that scares me with socialmedia and apps...
Im not gay or using grindr, but I have friends who are and I know they used grindr, Im a bit concerned... I hope people stay smart and safe out there...
/FF
It's hard to tell which apps have compromises and leaks. The best practice is to not put too many of your personal details online and always keep location turned off.
Thanks for your feedback @vimukthi... You seem very knowledgeable on the subject of cyber-security, Im doing a small series on "decentralized messengers with client to client encryption", but I would like to have some more feedback/input, since Im no expert...
Im just trying to shed some light on alternatives.
decentralized-messengers-with-client-to-client-encryption-babelnet
decentralized-messengers-with-client-to-client-encryption-briar
/FF
I'm no expert myself. I've been doing too muh reading. So it does seem that I'm better informed than most people. But experts are at a whole new level. I don't know much about Encrypted Messaging. But one thing i know is that you need some serious volume to have serious privacy. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/27/nsa_loves_it_when_you_use_pgp
This is one reason I LOVE Telegram. The have 200 million monthly active users. That's a lot of noise. https://status.im is another one hat seem like a solid project. But the best person to teach you about these stuf would be a paranoid person or someone like Snowden.
@ vimukthi
Thanks for the long reply!!!
Im not really seeing "the government" as my adversary, I know a lot of people do, but I don't really, but it is all different depending on where you live and what you do I guess.
My main concern is private companies collecting peoples data and potentially selling a nice package of personal information they gathered about you to your potential future employer, insurance-company or a private investigator, etc etc...
But thanks for your input, I always suspected what you are saying is true, and I heard good things about telegram, never checked out https://status.im , but thanks now I have something to write about...
/FF