The US Federal Trade Commission has concluded an investigation into OkCupid after accusing the dating app of passing nearly three million user photos, along with demographic and location data, to a third party without telling people or giving them a way to opt out. According to the FTC, the material was supplied in connection with AI and facial-recognition training, despite the app’s privacy assurances that personal data would not be shared in that way.

The case dates back to 2014, when OkCupid was approached for access to its user base to help improve machine-learning systems. The FTC said the company agreed to provide the data with no meaningful limits on how it could be used, and later failed to disclose the arrangement to users. PetaPixel and Ars Technica reported that the third party involved was Clarifai, a facial-recognition company, while the FTC alleged OkCupid obscured that relationship when questions were raised.

Under the proposed settlement, OkCupid and its parent, Match Group, are barred from misrepresenting how they collect, use or share personal information. TechCrunch reported that Clarifai deleted the photos and any models trained on them after the investigation, and the FTC said the agreement also requires that any material derived from the data be removed. The agency did not impose a financial penalty, citing legal limits, but the order is expected to remain in force for 20 years.

The episode adds to growing scrutiny of how consumer platforms feed data into AI systems, particularly when users have little visibility over what is being shared. The FTC’s complaint portrays the case as a straightforward breach of privacy promises: users were not notified, were not given a choice, and their photographs were allegedly used in a way that went beyond what the company had told them.

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Source: Noah Wire Services