CALD W ELL CASSADY & CURRY JARED SINE

Going the Extra Mile for Privacy and User Safety

Match has voluntarily taken responsibility and legal liability upon itself and put forth impressive measures to protect users’ data and both online and offline experiences. These include algorithms to aid in removing bots and bad actors in addition to protecting against data breaches on the back end. The company has developed AI to proactively protect users from damaging images and content posted on the site. It has also created an external advisory council with recruited individuals from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as well as other experts in sexual assault prevention and from antiviolence organizations.

“We want to make sure that we are doing the best we can to try to be in front of these potential changes, but also to do the right thing for our users,” Sine explains.

Match’s emphasis on user protection is evident in its devoting more than ten percent of its total workforce to security. “Instead of taking off-the-shelf tools that third parties have built,” Sine says, “we’ve built our own tools that really understand how our platforms work.” It is this unusual commitment to privacy and user protection that allows Match’s users to trust the brand—and to feel comfortable putting themselves fully out there in hopes of developing meaningful connections.

For Jared Sine, this is what it is all about: the connections. “Relationships are the ultimate social good,” he says. With the rates of suicide and loneliness mounting among young people, the importance of fostering these interpersonal relationships is growing. This focus on getting people together offline, out in the real world, is a unique feature of Match and its affiliates. That is why safety is vital to Sine and his team.

The benefits of these efforts are manifold. Sine notes the results of a recent MIT study showing that “relationships that start online tend to be more diverse, and they tend to be more stable.” In fostering such relationships, the company is “expanding the footprint of diversity and inclusion—all those good things that everybody wants.”

The end result of Match’s devotion to the privacy and safety of its users: it has exceeded the requirements of each privacy act and regulation that has come down the pike. The company’s continued effort to protect users’ data and provide a safe and exciting experience makes it a futureproof service that strengthens the social fabric, stemming the rising tide of isolation by supporting genuine, real-life connections.