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Facebook Dating Presentation 2019: Friends can be marked as "secret crush"
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Stephen Lam / REUTERS
Actually, Facebook wanted to launch its dating service on time for Valentine's Day in Europe.
However, the Irish competent authority did not consider data protection sufficiently checked.
With a delay of several months, the time has come.
According to its own information, Facebook is now a dating platform in Europe as well.
Product manager Kate Orseth said of the announced market launch in 32 European countries that you took your time to do everything right.
The service will start there from today, it says in a message.
On Facebook Dating, users over the age of 18 can create a separate profile.
Facebook then suggests potential partners - based on the information provided by the users, but also on the platform's knowledge of their interests and activities.
Facebook friends as potential flirt partners?
Facebook friends are exempt from this - unless you mark someone of them as a "secret crush" in your dating profile.
You can put up to nine people on this list.
The users only find out about this if there is mutual agreement.
In order to make the flirt function safe, no photos or videos can be sent during conversations between users.
Everyone can block or report another user, they say.
At the same time, Facebook gives users the opportunity to incorporate content from the company's own photo platform, Instagram.
In line with the corona crisis, Facebook offers meetings via video conference.
Read here:
This is how the new online dating works on Facebook
Product manager Orseth admits, however, that Facebook can also use data on activity in the dating area to personalize advertisements elsewhere on the online network's platform.
Shortly before Facebook postponed the start of the flirting platform in Europe in February, data protectionists had expressed severe criticism of the portal.
The Irish Data Protection Authority initiated an "inspection" of the online network in Dublin and secured records.
Now documents have been submitted to the authority in advance - although Facebook is not obliged to do so, Orseth said.
Facebook Dating complies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
Action against nude pictures announced
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg first presented the plans for a dating function in spring 2018.
Since it was launched last year, Facebook Dating has gradually been rolled out in 20 countries.
The users are expressly requested to log in with their real identities and Facebook assures that fraud attempts are consistently prevented.
Every user complaint will be followed up.
The online network is also proactively checking profile pictures, for example, to ensure that there are no nude photos there.
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