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TechCrunch<\/em><\/a> reported that a group of researchers from the university KU Leuven in Belgium identified six popular dating apps that malicious users can use to pinpoint the near-exact location of other users. Dating apps including Hinge, Happn, Bumble, Grindr, Badoo and Hily all exhibited some form of \u201ctrilateration\u201d that could expose users\u2019 approximate locations, which prompted some of the apps to take action and tighten their security, according to the published paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n The term \u201ctrilateration\u201d refers to a three-point measurement used in GPS to determine the relative distance to a target. The six named apps fell into one of three categories of trilateration\u201d including \u201cexact distance trilateration\u201d in which a target is accurate to \u201cat least a 111m by 111m square (at the equator),\u201d \u201cround distance trilateration\u201d or \u201coracle trilateration\u201d in which distance filters are used to approximate a rounded area much like a Venn diagram.<\/p>\n Grindr is \u201csusceptible to exact distance trilateration\u201d while Happn falls under \u201crounded distance trilateration.\u201d The remaining four fall under \u201coracle trilateration\u201d despite the fact that Hinge and Hily hide the distances of its users, according to the paper.<\/p>\n Karel Dhondt, one of the researchers involved in the study, told TechCrunch<\/em> that a user with malicious intent could locate another user up to \u201c2 meters\u201d away using oracle trilateration. This method involves the malicious user going to a rough estimate of the victim’s location based on their profile and moving in increments until the victim is no longer in proximity along three different positions and triangulating the data to one spot.<\/p>\n Bumble\u2019s vice president of global communication Gabrielle Ferree told the website that they \u201cswiftly resolved the issues outlined\u201d with its distance filter last year. Hily co-founder and chief technology officer Dmytro Kononov said in a statement that an investigation revealed \u201ca potential possibility for trilateration\u201d but \u201cexploiting this for attacks was impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Happn chief executive officer and president Karima Ben Adelmalek told TechCrunch<\/em> they discussed trilateration with the Belgian researchers. He says that an additional layer of protection designed to prevent trilateration \u201cwas not taken into account in their analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n Grindr\u2019s chief privacy officer Kelly Peterson Miranda noted that users can disable their distance display from their profile. She also noted that \u201cGrindr users are in control of what location information they provide.\u201d Badoo and Hinge did not respond with a comment.<\/p>\n Other dating apps have taken extra steps to ensure its users are speaking to actual people and not spam bots or fake accounts. Tinder<\/a> started requiring users in February in the US, UK, Brazil and Mexico to upload a copy of an official driver\u2019s license or passport along with a video selfie as part of a new advanced ID verification system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n