OkCupid is settling allegations that it shared users’ photos with a facial recognition company

Dating app OkCupid He agreed to settle the claims From the Federal Trade Commission that it deceived millions of users by sharing their photos with a third-party facial recognition company without their consent.

OkCupid and its parent company Match Group did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but instead promised not to make similar alleged misrepresentations in the future. According to the FTC complaint, after facial recognition company Clarifai contacted one of OkCupid’s founders in 2014, the app gave it access to nearly three million OkCupid user photos, along with demographic and location data about users. The FTC alleged that this access violated OkCupid’s privacy policy, because it did not give users an opportunity to opt out of having their data shared.

After sharing the data, OkCupid and Match later tried to hide their relationship with Clarifai New York Times The FTC claimed to have contacted her for a story. However, the settlement does not impose penalties on OkCupid or Match, and does not directly address the data allegedly shared with Clarifai. The companies pledge not to misrepresent their data collection and sharing policies in the future, and to undergo compliance monitoring, which could expose them to further action if they are found to be in violation of the order, once approved by the court. The settlement shows that “the FTC is enforcing the privacy promises companies make,” Christopher Movrage, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

OkCupid did not immediately provide a comment attributed to a spokesperson. Match and Clarify did not immediately respond to requests for comment.