Gay dating app Jack'd slapped with $240,000 payout

Gay dating app Jack’d has been forced to cough up $240,000 (£189,000) in compensation after it exposed users’ private intimate photos publicly on the Internet.
The company behind the app, Online Buddies, failed to fix the problem for over 12 months despite being warned about the issue by a privacy expert. Oliver Hough reported the flaw in February 2018 but the firm only implemented a fix in February 2019.
It meant that anyone with a web browser, who knew where to look, could gain access to millions of private photos, even if they did not have a Jack’d account.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said: “The app put users’ sensitive information and private photos at risk of exposure and the company didn’t do anything about if for a full year just so that they could continue to make a profit.”
She said she had reached a settlement with Online Buddies, which will pay the $240,000 to New York state. The firm has also promised to implement a “comprehensive security programme” to protect its users.
Jack’d has been downloaded more than five million times on the Google Play app store.