The dating app Jack’d has agreed to fork over $240,000 in damages and make substantial security updates after it failed to protect users’ private photos and videos.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office put out a statement this week saying it had reached a settlement with Online Buddies, Inc., the parent company of Jack’d, for allowing the private photos and videos of nearly 2,000 users to leak online.
“Although the company represented to users that it had security measures in place to safeguard users’ information, and that certain photos would be marked ‘private,’ the company failed to implement reasonable protections to keep those photos private, and continued to leave security vulnerabilities unfixed for a year after being alerted to the problem.”
The security breach was first discovered in 2018 by Oliver Hough. He noticed that the way Jack’d stored users’ content made it easy to access online, and that anyone could view it, regardless of whether they had a Jack’d profile.
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When he reported the security flaw to Jack’d, they said they’d “look into it” then never did anything about it. It wasn’t until almost a year later, when Hough went to the media with the story, that the bug was hastily fixed.
“This app put users’ sensitive information and private photos at risk of exposure and the company didn’t do anything about it for a full year just so that they could continue to make a profit,” James’ statement continues.
“This was an invasion of privacy for thousands of New Yorkers. Today, millions of people across the country — of every gender, race, religion, and sexuality — meet and date online every day, and my office will use every tool at our disposal to protect their privacy.”
According to Online Buddies, Inc., Jack’d has over 6 million users worldwide, and it describes itself as the world’s “most culturally diverse gay dating app.”
Related: Jack’d users just got jacked! All your private pics and videos are available to view online
bamboo_child
What’s so ironic about this Queerty is that the photo you are using of the guy in white underwear is someone I follow on IG. I messaged him this link saying they were using his photo and he confirmed he didn’t give y’all permission. WTF
1898
yikes
Madea
Sorry I don’t believe that at all!
batesmotel
He should be flattered anyone cares enough to use his photo. He’s an unknown.
Chrisk
That’s not the first picture that queerty used.
bamboo_child
@Madea, I swear I am being honest. Why would I make this up? Also update, Queerty changed the photo so good on them
CenterRight
One of the sweet punishments for guys trying to looking for anonymous sex on the hookup app.
1898
i guess we now know exactly what our nudes are worth: $120 (240,000 ÷ 2,000 = 120)
Jared MacBride
What a joke. All the people complaining probably stole the nude photos from the internet.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Does ANYONE actually believe that once they post a peen pic online ANYWHERE that it’s actually “safe”???