Facebook Let Dating App Tinder Get Special Access To Its User Data As Per Leaked Exchanges Placed Before US Court

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg allowed the dating app special access to user data, as revealed by leaked exchanges between the two executives, despite dismissing Tinder co-founder Sean Rad as irrelevant.

Access to Facebook data helped Tinder thrive, but there came a point when it inched closer to losing that access, the US-edition of Forbes magazine has reported.

Released recently, the leaked correspondence is part of a long-running law suit in California state court, between former Facebook app developer Six4three and Facebook.

The documents running into nearly 7,000 pages were leaked to Duncan Campbell in February 2019 but published recently. According to Campbell's website, he is an investigative journalist and a forensic expert based in Ireland.

In 2014, Facebook, which is facing several anti-trust investigations, announced a new set of rules to prevent third-party app developers from getting access to data on users' friends. The social networking giant set May 2015 as the deadline for complying with new rules. But some firms continued to have access to crucial data, including Tinder.

According to the report in Forbes, Facebook wanted the dating app to share trademark rights on 'Moments', a photo app that Facebook wanted to launch, an email exchange during March 2015 showed.

Despite giving Tinder preferential treatment, Zuckerberg rejected the suggestion he meet with Rad, explaining, “I don't think he's that relevant. He probably just wants to make sure we won't turn off their API”.