OkCupid Security Flaw Threatens Intimate Dater Details. Attackers could have exploited various flaws in OkCupid’s mobile app and webpage to steal victims’ sensitive data and even send messages. A good, safe site to use for dating and the best I have found so far. As some have pointed out, it's a dating site and therefore not for children. I've only had one issue with the site in the entire time that I have used it and a site update comprehensively solved the issue. OkCupid is as safe as many other popular dating applications and websites such as eHarmony.com. OkCupid is designed to make quick connections with matches in your area, while focussing on compatibility. OkCupid’s privacy depends on your personal settings, so it is your responsibility to set these once you join OkCupid. OkCupid removed the Sapiosexual identity on February 11, 2019, following considerable negative feedback, specifically quoting an article on Vice Magazine. Rudder updated the 'OkTrends' blog, which consists of 'original research and insights from OkCupid,' for the first time in three years in July 2014.

Reddit (especially r/okcupid) is a great resource if you’re looking for a sounding board, feedback, or advice around dating on OkCupid.

Since the subreddit has existed, however, tons of ground has been covered. And the same questions come up over and over again.

The OkCupid Reddit wiki tries to capture the best of these questions and answers but can be a bit unweildly itself.

Here’s what believe to be the top 3 best-of-the-best advice from Reddit OkCupid.

#1) Reddit’s OkCupid Self-Summary Advice

DO

1. Do try writing this section last. Use the freestyle nature of this section to fill in anything you feel you didn’t get the chance to say in the rest of your profile.

2. Do focus on who you /are/. The things you /like/ and the things you /do/ belong in other sections. What is it these things are supposed to tell us about your character?

3. Edit weekly.

DON’T

1. Don’t say you suck at self-summaries. Lots of people dislike trying to summarize their complicated personality into a couple of paragraphs in a way they’re comfortable with. You probably don’t want to be lumped in with lots of people.

2. Don’t portray negativity or entitlement! This is supposed to be the hook to your profile and coming off as either of those will turn away tons of viewers. Nobody wants to be around a stuck up little brat.

3. Don’t write out your whole goddamned life story.

#2) Reddit’s OkCupid First Message Advice

DO

• Keep it light.
• Be interesting in the first 100 characters. This is important because the introduction is visible before the message is even opened.
• Keep it short. 2-4 sentences is an acceptable length. Be aware that you’re not the only message in their inbox, and lengthy messages can get skimmed or skipped.
• Show interest in getting to know them vs. smalltalk
• Demonstrate that you’ve read their profile
• Attempt to ask a question they haven’t heard before. If not, dive a bit deeper into a topic they probably get quite often.
• Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Imagine yourself talking to this person in real life. Don’t write anything you wouldn’t say to their face. Don’t write anything that sounds too obvious or stupid.
• Only initiate conversations you WANT to have. Don’t ask someone about his/her interest in a topic just because (s)he’s cute. If nothing interests you personally, let it go.

DON’T

Is Okcupid Safe

• Write just “hi, hello, hey there, etc.” and expect to get a response. /u/Lachryman says, “I say ‘Hey’ to my coworkers every morning. I’m not trying to date any of them.“
• Copy/paste. For the love of all that is wonderful in this world, please put forth some effort if you’re trying to find someone to be with.
• Say “why don’t you have a BF/GF? You’re too attractive to be single.”
• Send any kind of first message that you wouldn’t feel comfortable saying to someone in public.
• Spend a bunch of time to introduce yourself, tell your life story, or explain why you don’t think the person will message you back.
• Mention how attractive you think he/she is in an opening message.
• Open all possible topics of conversation or ask lots of questions in one question. Let the conversation flow and ask new questions in a lull.
• Invest too heavily in a profile or message. It will hurt more if they never respond.
• Be afraid to ask me out during our first or second message.
• Speak in slang, memes, ol’ timey, or anything that isn’t who you are.
• Give a fuck.
• Mention sex for a while.
• Neg, belittle, or clearly offend. (For those that don’t know, negging is the practice of offering a backhanded compliment through a method of a borderline insult, or “Low-grade insults meant to undermine the self-confidence of another individual so they might be more vulnerable to your advances and seek your approval.”)

#3) Reddit’s OkCupid Profile Photo Advice

DO

From our very own /u/mattheikkila’s OKCuTips: “Your first photo should either show how attractive you can be, or be interesting enough to compel those you’re interested in to click on it when it’s a little 60×60 pixel thumbnail. Picking an odd, silly, weird, or goofy picture is probably not the best choice. I personally will click on a profile only if there is a reasonable chance that they’re attractive, and I do this for 3 reasons: 1 is to save time, 2 is because it’s a dating site and I’m only going to consider someone I find attractive, and 3 is because I don’t want to unnecessarily give the message that I may be interested (by showing up in their visitor list) if I’m definitely not. Usually a face shot with good lighting, no bathroom shots, or self shots if you can help it. Also, you can help it. Do you have one friend? Do you or they have a camera or a camera phone?

Your second and third photos should be flattering, and one of the three should be a full body shot, because there’s no point in dealing with the embarrassment of finding out one of you even accidentally misrepresented what you look like in person.”

1. Your first picture is the most important piece of the profile puzzle. It’s the first thing people see when searching profiles, and can be the make-or-break decision in less than five seconds of someone knowing of your existence. So, DO pick your absolute best picture! It must have great lighting, great composure, high resolution, and most importantly your best features being the most prominent eye-catcher in the picture. Also, when cropping, make sure to capture that essence because your thumbnail is your representative on the site.

2. DO have a few pictures alone, and a few with other people. Having lots of one and very few of the other will give bad impressions of either being too anti-social and difficult to mesh with your match’s friends, or too clung to your friends and activities to have time for a partner.

3. Do show variety. Different places, different times, different moods, different atmospheres, different poses and different facial expressions will do more to show how multi-faceted of a person you are than any amount of words you type out describing it.

Psst… Want girls or guys to 😍😍😍 at your OkCupid profile?

Test your OkCupid pics on Photofeeler.

Photofeeler tells you how you’re coming across in pics — if you look attractive, smart, trustworthy, fun, confident, and more.

You could ask r/OkCupid for feedback, but statistically, the handful of opinions you’ll get is very scant. Further, someone on Reddit OkCupid might say you look “bad” in one picture or “better” in another. But how often do you find out why a photo is good or bad?

What if none of your pictures are doing you justice? Most people (men especially) use pics that don’t do them justice at all. What they need is some hard data and real guidance for how to do better.

Answer? Test all your pics on Photofeeler. Choosing profile pics this way has been known to increase matches on Tinder by 200-400%.

Go to Photofeeler.com now and give it a try!

Is Okcupid A Safe Dating Site

More than 7 million OkCupid users trust the site with their most intimate details in exchange for potential dates. You lay your heart on the table (or more accurately, in your profile); your disclosures nab you a romance. After all, it’s hard to get a date without showing who you are.

But to connect with other members, you also have to share with OkCupid. And the site, which was purchased in 2011 by corporate giant Match.com, is famous for making the most of its users’ data, whether to analyze on its OkTrends blog or to make money.

Is this “data for a date” relationship that so many of us have with OkCupid worth it, or is it a privacy heartbreak waiting to happen? We researched OkCupid.com to see how it collects and uses its members’ information. In Facebook parlance, it’s a little complicated.

Like many free dating sites, OkCupid sells its members’ data to advertisers. And even though it hasn’t suffered a hack or a data breach yet, other online dating sites have, from PlentyofFish to eHarmony. One thing is clear: your personal information isn’t private on OkCupid.

OkCupid doesn’t offer secure browsing with HTTPS

OkCupid doesn’t support HTTPS, a standard web encryption that ensures that information is sent and received in an encrypted form (so it looks like random characters) rather than plain text. The lack of HTTPS means that anyone on your wireless network can potentially read any OkCupid email, page view, chat message, search entry, profile info, clicked link, and even answers to your hidden questions. Because many OkCupid users express their sexual orientation, religious and political beliefs, drug use, and other highly personal info on the site, a data breach could be disastrous.

Trackers and ad networks and analytics; oh my!

Using our DoNotTrackMe browser privacy tool, we found that OkCupid used nine different tracking companies and ad networks to obtain information about its visitors. These trackers aren’t a part of OkCupid: they’re independent third parties mining user data like clicks, ad views, pages visited, and time spent viewing a particular profile.

The FTC has stated that dating sites must inform new users about how they plan to use their data, and it’s unlawful for a site that says it will keep your data safe to later sell it to advertisers. How they must inform you, however, isn’t well-defined: many hide the fact that they’re swapping your information across the web deep within lengthy privacy policies or terms of use. OkCupid admits to this sort of behavioral tracking of its users in its Privacy Policy:

“. . . we may partner with third party advertisers who may (themselves or through their partners) place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. These cookies enable more customized ads, content or services to be provided to you.”

Anything you post on OkCupid may be there forever

Even if you delete information from your profile or account, OkCupid states that “we may keep such information archived indefinitely.” Put bluntly, anything you post on the site may be there forever. OkCupid’s privacy policy states that the site collects its members’ “personal interests, gender, age, education, occupation and certain relationship preferences. . . name, email and photo,” as well as their browser and IP address. Of course, members usually choose to disclose far more than these things to experience everything the site has to offer, answering questions, posting photos, taking quizzes, and filling out location information.

The site also uses anonymous data to compile the dating research it presents on OkTrends, investigating things like messages received versus attractiveness and personality traits by sexual orientation.

After digging into OkCupid’s Privacy Policy, we learned that they say that “third parties” and “service providers” can access members’ personal information in order to “direct[] and display[] specific advertisements” to them. Advertisers can compile information about whether you or anyone else who’s using your computer saw their ads and clicked them. In this way, they build a profile of your likes and interests to target you with ads that they believe you’ll respond to.

We also learned that you can email OkCupid at privacy@okcupid.com to request that they don’t share your information with others.

Match.com now owns OkCupid, which means way more data sharing

Match.com itself is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns more than 50 companies and websites including CitySearch.com, CollegeHumor.com, Ask.com, Vimeo.com, Chemistry.com, and UrbanSpoon.com. IAC’s Privacy Policy allow it to share information freely between the many companies and websites it owns, as well as “Other businesses with which [it] partner[s].” In other words, your OkCupid data can be shared freely among the 6th largest online network in the world. Not very private.

Now that Match.com (and thus IAC) owns OkCupid, Match also owns OkCupid’s members’ information. As OkCupid’s privacy policy states,

“If the ownership of all or substantially all of the OkCupid business or assets were to change, your user information would likely be transferred to the new owner(s).”

If you’re a member of OkCupid and the thought of the many websites that IAC owns accessing your personal information doesn’t appeal to you, now’s a good time to cancel that account.

Summary of our findings on OkCupid privacy:

– OkCupid.com uses multiple web trackers, ad networks, and tracking cookies

– It shares your information with a large network of advertisers and partners

– Anything you post may be stored forever

– Match.com, IAC, and all of IAC’s properties may now access all of OkCupid’s user information

Tips for staying more private on OkCupid

• Use a browser add-on, such as our free Do Not Track Plus, to block trackers and ad networks while you’re on a site like OkCupid.
• Only provide the amount of personal information that’s absolutely necessary for site membership. A good rule of thumb: if it’s optional, don’t fill it in. You can always disclose more to your potential paramours in more secure ways, like over email or in person.
• Use an alias or a pseudonym, and use an anonymous email that forwards to your real inbox to avoid getting spammed.
• Think twice before posting any content on OkCupid or any other dating website. Even if you delete it later, it may be archived permanently.