Protect Your Privacy on Bumble

Late last year, Bumble finally rolled out its updated privacy policy after a coalition of twelve digital rights, LGBTQ+, human rights, and gender justice civil society organizations launched a campaign demanding stronger data protections.

Unfortunately, the company, like other dating apps, has not moved far enough, and continues to burden users with the responsibility of navigating misleading privacy settings on the app, as well as absorbing the consequences of infosec gaps, however severe. 

This should not be your responsibility—dating apps like Bumble should be prioritizing your privacy by default. This data falling into the wrong hands can come with unacceptable consequences, especially for those seeking reproductive health care, survivors of intimate partner violence, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Laws should require companies to put our privacy over their profit, and we’re fighting hard for the introduction of comprehensive data privacy legislation in the U.S. to achieve this. 

But in the meantime, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to protect yourself and your most intimate information whilst using the dating service. 

Review Your Login Information

When you create a Bumble account, you have the option to use your phone number as a login, or use your Facebook, Google (on Android), or Apple (on iOS) account. If you use your phone number, you’ll get verification texts when you login from a new device and you won’t need any sort of password. 

Using your Apple, Google, or Facebook account might share some data with those services, but can also be a useful backup plan if you lose access to your phone number for whatever reason. Deciding if that trade-off is worth it is up to you. If you do choose to use those services, be sure to use a strong, unique password for your accounts and two-factor authentication. You can always review these login methods and add or remove one if you don’t want to use it anymore. 

• Tap the Profile option, then the gear in the upper-right corner. Scroll down to Security and Privacy > Ways you can log in and review your settings.

You can also optionally link your Spotify account to your Bumble profile. While this should only display your top artists, depending on how you use Spotify there’s always a chance a bug or change might reveal more than you intend. You can disable this integration if you want:

• Tap the Profile option, then “Complete Profile,” and scroll down the Spotify section at the bottom of that page. If the “Connect my Spotify” box is checked, tap it to uncheck the box. You can also follow Spotify’s directions to revoke app access there.

Disable Bumble’s Behavioral Ads

You don’t have many privacy options on Bumble, but there is one important setting we recommend changing: disable behavioral ads. By default, Bumble can take information from your profile and use that to display targeted ads, which track and target you based on your supposed interests. It’s best to turn this feature off:

• Tap the profile option, then the gear in the upper-right corner. 
• If you’re based in the U.S., scroll down to Security and Privacy > Privacy settings, and enable the option for “Do not use my profile information to show me relevant ads.” 
• If you’re based in Europe, scroll down to Security and Privacy > Privacy settings, and click “Reject all.”