Tinder logs out users after Facebook updates data privacy policies
What's the story
After Facebook recently revealed that a maximum of 87 million users could have been affected by the Cambridge Analytica scandal and updated its data privacy policies against third-party apps, Tinder users who had signed up through Facebook Login have been booted off the dating app. This comes after Facebook announced changes to its core APIs, restricting developer access to user information in several areas.
Twitter Post
Tinder users took to Twitter to complain
@Tinder keep getting this even though I give all permissions when I login. pic.twitter.com/cIWQBKLhQf
— Nima Gardideh (@ngardideh) April 4, 2018
Bug
Affected users caught in infinite loop of being logged out
Affected users had been logged out of Tinder and were caught in an infinite loop between Facebook and Tinder. What the never-ending bug did: Users who tried to log into Tinder with Facebook were asked to tap on an "ask me" option to give Facebook more permissions. But on doing that, they were again requested to login via Facebook. So back to square one.
Twitter Post
It's a technical issue: Tinder
A technical issue is preventing users from logging into Tinder. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to have everyone swiping again soon.
— Tinder (@Tinder) April 4, 2018
Cause
Tinder has to get approved by Facebook to access data
Under its new policies, Facebook will now "need to approve all apps that request access to information such as check-ins, likes, photos, posts, videos, events, and groups." Further, apps will no longer see user information like relationship status, friend list, and education and work history. This will affect Tinder as previously it automatically integrated work and education history from Facebook to users' dating profiles.
Solution
The issue has now been resolved
Facebook said on the glitch, "This was part of the changes that we announced, and we are working with Tinder to address this issue." Later, Tinder fixed the issue and said, "We found a resolution and quickly resumed service. We ask users to ensure that they have updated the app and are running the most recent version." Tinder web was running fine all along.