{"id":4438,"date":"2026-01-30T07:49:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T07:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/umich-community-confronts-dating-app-safety\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T07:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T07:49:06","slug":"umich-community-confronts-dating-app-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/umich-community-confronts-dating-app-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"UMich community confronts dating app safety"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Content warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Alex, a University of Michigan student who chose to remain anonymous and is referred to here by a pseudonym, first downloaded a dating app the summer after high school. As a gay man from a small rural community, he found it difficult to explore his sexuality. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Alex described a forced sexual encounter with someone he met through a dating app.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met up with someone in Ann Arbor, and we started having sex,\u201d Alex said. \u201cI was not into it, and I was kind of in a lot of pain \u2014 I was like, \u2018This is painful, I\u2019m really uncomfortable.\u2019 The person was like 7 feet tall too. I was like, \u2018Can I stop? Can we stop? Can we stop?\u2019 and then they just don\u2019t \u2026 and I can\u2019t really do anything because they\u2019re taller than me and they\u2019re stronger than me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a world of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/opinion\/lets-break-down-the-ick-the-sudden-feeling-of-disgust-that-keeps-ruining-your-relationships\/\">icks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/opinion\/columns\/lets-stop-ghosting-each-other\/\">ghosting<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationwidechildrens.org\/family-resources-education\/700childrens\/2025\/01\/doomscrolling-and-brain-rot\">mindless doomscrolling<\/a>, more and more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/2023\/2\/3\/23583333\/how-many-people-use-online-dating\/\">college students<\/a> are swiping right and using dating apps to meet people. Despite their increasing cultural relevance, many University of Michigan students have come face to face with the risks these apps carry.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>In an interview with The Daily, Engineering junior Nathan Le said he has used <a href=\"https:\/\/tinder.com\/\">Tinder<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/hinge.co\/\">Hinge<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grindr.com\/\">Grindr<\/a>, but rarely takes time to think about his safety while using dating apps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel really safe on campus, and Tinder and Hinge feel like an extension of meeting people on campus,\u201d Le said. \u201cI\u2019ve definitely let my guard down at times \u2014 all the time, really \u2014 when I\u2019m using the apps. I just inherently trust that, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re not catfishing me. You\u2019re not a fake person.\u2019 But then when I really think about it, or when I take a step back and look at it, I\u2019m like, \u2018Okay, maybe I should triple-confirm that I know exactly who I\u2019m talking to.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tinder has developed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tinderpressroom.com\/2025-10-22-Tinder-to-Expand-Facial-Verification-Feature-Across-the-U-S-,-Setting-a-New-Standard-for-Dating-Safety\">Face Check feature<\/a> that requires users to verify their faces via live video selfie, ensuring they match users\u2019 profile pictures. Despite this, Le said dating apps often don\u2019t require people to confirm their identities to use the apps, leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/01\/29\/tech\/catfishing-explained-what-to-do-as-equals-intl-cmd\">catfishing<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a chance that older people could try to catfish you, especially in the gay community,\u201d Le said. \u201cI know a lot of older men, specifically in the gay community, try to prey on it a little bit, or there\u2019s a chance that somebody could be lying about their age. \u2026 There\u2019s a bunch of things that could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margie Pillsbury, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dpss.umich.edu\/\">Division of Public Safety and Security<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/dpss.umich.edu\/about\/departments\/umpd\/special-victims-unit\/\"> Special Victims Unit<\/a> investigations coordinator, works closely with cases involving dating violence, sexual assault, intimate partner violence and stalking. In an interview with The Daily, Pillsbury said dating app users need to take preventive measures and trust their instincts to prevent catfishing.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cSomeone who doesn\u2019t have a photo, or they don\u2019t have a lot of friends or it\u2019s a recently created profile \u2014 all of those things, I think, should raise concern and cause people to take a step back,\u201d Pillsbury said. \u201cYou ask about doing FaceTime or having some sort of video chat, and they don\u2019t want to do that \u2014 that would be a red flag.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grindr requires access to users\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grindr.com\/blog\/introducing-map-view-a-new-way-to-see-whos-on-right-now\">locations<\/a> and makes it visible to others on the app, including precise distance measurements in feet. Le said this feature led him to delete the app and switch to primarily using Tinder and Hinge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a grid of people, and then you can see how close they are to you,\u201d Le said. \u201cThere was one time I was at Bursley (Residence Hall) my freshman year because I lived there, and there was this one guy, and it said he was zero feet away. I got so scared, I deleted the app. I was like, \u2018What if it\u2019s my freaking roommate?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Le said the culture of Grindr endangers user safety and can expose users to privacy violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of explicit things that happen on the app because it\u2019s kind of meant for that,\u201d Le said. \u201cA friend of mine had his (explicit) pictures on the app, and then people had threatened to post them on the internet or send them to friends and family members.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>While at the University, Alex studied abroad in France. There, he said he had a dangerous encounter meeting a man at an unfamiliar tram station.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I got there, I immediately realized that the person I was meeting up with was not the same person that was on the profile that I had been texting,\u201d Alex said. \u201cIt was just not the same person. \u2026 I am so afraid of hurting other people\u2019s feelings (that) I was like, \u2018Whatever, I\u2019ll go. I\u2019ll just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said he thought he was meeting up with another college-aged student, but the man standing in front of him was 35 years old and had a completely different physical appearance than the profile picture he used on Grindr. Alex said his sense of danger heightened after the man asked him to wait alone on a terrace before entering his apartment. Eventually he thought of a way to escape.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo then I texted him, and I was like, \u2018Oh I\u2019m feeling really really sick. I have to go. I\u2019m so sorry. Like we will totally meet up at a different time, but I have to go,\u2019\u201d Alex said. \u201cHe told me, \u2018I can see you, and I have your location.\u2019 He texted me (that), and I was like, \u2018Oh my gosh,\u2019 I was so scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After reading this text, Alex panicked and was unsure of how to get home safely. He did not want to go to the tram station they met at because the man could see it from his apartment. He started walking home using the outskirts of the city, where felt unsafe with the unfamiliar surroundings.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThen I finally got home and just laid on my bed and cried because I was just really flustered,\u201d Alex said. \u201cI fully believe he would\u2019ve followed me and tried to do something if I went down to the tram station again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pillsbury said telling friends where you are going beforehand can prevent situations like these.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThink ahead of time and try to make your in-person interactions in a populated place that you\u2019re familiar with,\u201d Pillsbury said. \u201cAlso making sure that your support network \u2014 whether it\u2019s a close friend or a family member \u2014 knows what you\u2019re doing and where you\u2019re going to be is really important, and then having an escape plan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, Alex said he sometimes finds it too embarrassing to let his friends know where he is when meeting people from apps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want them to know that I\u2019m doing that stuff,\u201d Alex said. \u201cI don\u2019t want people to think differently of me, and I don\u2019t really tell people what I\u2019m going to do a lot of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>In an interview with The Daily, Apryl Williams, associate professor of communication and media, said while many dating apps have anti-discrimination features to protect safety and create an inclusive environment, people of Color, the LGBTQ+ community and women face disproportionately more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/20\/opinion\/queer-dating-apps.html\">discriminatory<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/worklife\/article\/20210623-the-darkest-side-of-online-dating\">aggressive<\/a> behavior online. Williams said digital dating platforms don\u2019t take these groups into consideration when creating their guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have these terms of service or community agreements or community guidelines that are supposed to protect everyone, but honestly, those are primarily written for the mainstream user, which is typically white men,\u201d Williams said. \u201cBecause of that, those safety guides aren\u2019t necessarily thinking about people of Color or (transgender) people or Queer people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To address these problems, Amie Gordon, associate professor of psychology, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/research\/umich-researchers-develop-revel-dating-app-for-students\/\">co-created<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/revel\/\"> Revel<\/a>, a dating app specifically designed for U-M students. The app only works for U-M students, as it requires the user\u2019s uniqname and password. It also contains an internal code of conduct and includes a feature allowing users to block certain individuals from viewing their profile. Gordon said that, while these features keep most interactions safe, they cannot eliminate all risks, but students should not be so afraid of these apps that they avoid connecting with others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a balance \u2014 if you\u2019re so afraid that you\u2019re going to get hurt, you\u2019re going to miss most of the people who are not looking to hurt you,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cI think we need to be smart and realistic and not put ourselves into situations where we can get hurt if we can avoid it, but also not be so afraid that we don\u2019t open ourselves up to the possibility of creating new connections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pillsbury said students have access to resources including the <a href=\"https:\/\/dpss.umich.edu\/services\/u-m-public-safety-app\/\">U-M Public Safety App<\/a> and a DPSS SVU-sponsored empowerment self-defense <a href=\"https:\/\/dpss.umich.edu\/prevention-and-training\/training-and-presentations\/empowerment-self-defense\/\">program<\/a> focusing on boundary setting, situational awareness and physical defense.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-6    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe have a Special Victims Unit because we know that a large percentage of our population is impacted by things like harassment or stalking, and we want people to know that there\u2019s a resource here to assist them and help them through that,\u201d Pillsbury said. \u201cWhether they choose to file a police report and seek a criminal process, or they just want some assistance, we want to be a resource to our campus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Staff Reporter Patricia Leoncio and Daily News Editor Dominic Apap can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/public-safety\/i-can-see-you-and-i-have-your-location-umich-community-confronts-dating-app-safety\/mailto:pleoncio@umich.edu\"><em>pleoncio@umich.edu<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/public-safety\/i-can-see-you-and-i-have-your-location-umich-community-confronts-dating-app-safety\/mailto:dapap@umich.edu\"><em>dapap@umich.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Content warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault. Alex, a University of Michigan student who chose to remain anonymous and is referred to here by a pseudonym, first downloaded a dating app the summer after high school. As a gay man from a small rural community, he found it difficult to explore his sexuality. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2291,441,2391,138,1614,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-4438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-app","9":"tag-community","10":"tag-confronts","11":"tag-dating","12":"tag-safety","13":"tag-umich"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4440,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438\/revisions\/4440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}