This time it's the right one.
Eight months after its abortive launch following doubts expressed by the Irish CNIL concerning the management of the personal data of its users, Facebook Dating arrives in Europe today.
This dating service integrated into the social network has been tested for over a year in the United States, South America and Southeast Asia.
It is available in 32 European countries, including France.
No need to download a new application, the service is an integral part of the social network.
For those over 18 years old only, Facebook Dating must be user activated in order to work.
It then appears in a dedicated section, and offers a choice of profiles according to the user's preferences: gender, areas of interest.
The information shared on the Facebook account is also used to connect people who are likely to like it.
On the other hand, it is impossible to stumble upon a Facebook friend, since they are automatically excluded from the proposals made by the application.
It is also possible to eliminate friends of friends from his suggestions, to widen his romantic horizon as much as possible.
Conversely, the
secret crush feature
allows you to select up to 9 friends on Facebook or Instagram to let them know that they have a secret admirer.
If the sentiment is shared, then the two profiles are linked via Facebook Dating.
In the event of mutual attraction, users can exchange in a discussion, but also make video calls.
This last feature has been integrated by most dating applications during containment, to overcome the inability to meet physically.
What security for data?
If Facebook Dating, which was to be launched in Europe for Valentine's Day, is only happening now, it is because of the doubts of the Data Protection Commission (DPC), the Irish gendarme of personal data.
The latter explained that he had only been warned ten days in advance of the arrival of this new product, too short a period to ensure its compliance with the GDPR, the European regulation that regulates the management. private data.
A search was even carried out in the Dublin premises of Facebook.
On this issue of personal data, Facebook wants to be reassuring and insists on the limited porosity between Facebook and Facebook Dating.
It will thus be impossible to know if a user has activated this dating service by consulting his Facebook profile.
In addition, it will be possible to hide certain information such as their city, religion and profession on their Facebook Dating profile.
The latter can also be paused at any time, or permanently deleted.
On the other hand, information will circulate well between these two bodies, in particular to offer relevant profiles to users.
Facebook, the vast majority of whose revenue comes from the sale of targeted advertising using the personal information of its users, also intends to use the activity of Facebook Dating users for this purpose.
“
We can use your activity within Facebook Dating to personalize your experience, including the advertisements you see on Facebook products
,” the social network said.
These products include the Facebook, Messenger and Instagram apps, as well as the Oculus and Portal devices.
Mixed success
Facebook Dating has been available to millions of US Facebook users for over a year.
It only takes a few clicks to activate this feature, available in an application found on most smartphones.
Despite this, it remains little known, reveals a Piplsay study carried out several months after its launch on 21,000 Americans.
Only a third of them had heard of this feature.
And among those who were aware of its existence, only 2 in 10 considered using it.
A lack of interest in part due to mistrust vis-à-vis Facebook on the subject of personal data.
Less than a third of those surveyed trust the company to process their data.
In addition, 60% of them believe that there are already enough dating apps.
Tinder, one of the most popular, is also not worried about the arrival of this new competitor in Europe, which according to him targets a target older than its users.
