Before you swipe right, be wary of the information you share

With everybody locked indoors, online dating has become more popular than ever. A survey by Bumble found that 83 per cent of users are more interested in dating in the current environment with 66 per cent of users open to just chatting even if those chats don’t result into a long-term connection.

While this spike spells good news for dating apps and those looking for love online, some cybersecurity experts believe that people are disregarding cybersecurity safeguards in their search for their perfect partner.

A recent survey by NortonLifeLock found that almost 40 per cent of respondents were okay with sharing personal details with someone they had only just contacted through a dating app, without having met the person in real life. Experts warn that behavior like this cold leave individuals open to cyber threats such as catfishing, data theft, cyberbullying and harassment.


Women more cautious than men
The report also found that male respondents in general were less cautious about privacy permissions on their phone with only 63 per cent males concerning themselves with app privacy and permissions as compared to 71 per cent of female respondents. Female respondents, on the other hand, were found to be more aware of possible security threats and had security software installed on their smartphones to ward off threats.

When it came to generations, Gen Z users (95 per cent) were found to be more proactive than millennials (94 per cent) and Gen X users (90 per cent) in adjusting the privacy permissions on their phone, though not by much.