Following CHOICE’s 2020 investigation into Tinder’s discriminatory pricing practices in Australia, new research by Consumers International and the Mozilla Foundation has found that Tinder Plus users in several other countries are being unknowingly charged more based on their personal information.
The research found that Tinder Plus charges older customers more money to use the service in five out of six countries investigated – India, the Republic of Korea, the United States, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
“The Consumers International investigation found that in five countries people over 30 were quoted far higher prices than people in the 18-29 age group. On average, 30-49 year olds were charged 65.3% more than 18-29 year olds,” says CHOICE senior policy advisor, Amy Pereira.
“The investigation also found that other undisclosed factors are used to influence individual pricing. This can potentially be any data Tinder holds about you like your location or hobbies, but the issue is we have no idea,” says Pereira.
The results of Consumers International’s investigation builds on CHOICE’s mystery shop of Tinder Plus in 2020, which discovered that the dating app was charging Australians vastly different prices without informing customers that this was happening.
“This new research from Consumers International is incredibly concerning, and confirms what CHOICE discovered in Australia is a global issue. Not only is Tinder discriminating against its users based on their age, there is absolutely no transparency when it comes to the pricing algorithm they are using. The big issue is that Tinder won’t come clean about how they set their prices,” says Pereira.
“CHOICE is calling on Tinder Australia to immediately stop its unethical use of data to set different prices for different people. We know that the hallmark of a good relationship is honesty and fairness, and it’s about time Tinder starts exhibiting these qualities itself,” says Pereira.
Australians can sign the petition calling on Tinder to stop its unfair pricing practices here: www.choice.com.au/tinderletter
“By signing the petition on CHOICE’s website, the Australian community can show Tinder that secretly charging people different prices based on their data is both unfair and unethical. Tinder needs to come clean about how their pricing algorithm actually works and make sure that they aren’t forcing people to pay more for factors beyond their control,” says Pereira.
