Flaw in the Tinder app allows users to pinpoint your exact location

Internet security researchers in New York say that a flaw in Tinder, the super-popular hookup app, made it possible to find users’ precise location for between 40 and 165 days, without any public notice from the company. Tinder—which connects flirty smartphone users with others nearby—is supposed to show users roughly how close they are to each other. Distance is rounded to the nearest mile, a safe-seeming threshold that has helped the app become addictive to both sexes. In October, however, researchers at Include Security discovered that Tinder servers were actually giving much more detailed information—mileage to 15 decimal places—that would allow any hacker with “rudimentary” skills to pinpoint a user’s location to within 100 feet. Depending on the neighborhood, that’s close enough to determine with alarming accuracy where, say, an ex-girlfriend is hanging out.