Tinder ends dispute with non-profit, introduces STD test locator in app

25 Feb 2019

Following the outrage from the AIDs Health Foundation (AHF) which started an aggressive campaign against the dating startup, Tinder has acted quickly by introducing a new health safety section in the app where its users can locate STD testing centers within the app.

This move from Tinder has finally ended a dispute between the AIDs Health Foundation and the startup. Recently, AHF has started an aggressive campaign against the Tinder app, this resulted in the popping up of large billboards in New York and Los Angeles, which blames Tinder for the rise of STD in the United States.

According to the reports, Tinder’s STD testing feature links to Healthvana’s STD center locator page, and users are redirected to this page. The dating app has provided this feature inside the new health safety section which is accessible under the FAQ page.

Dr. Jessica Carbino, Lead Sociologist at Tinder, said in a statement:

“Tinder is proud to empower millions of users to create relationships. An important aspect of any healthy relationship – whether formed on Tinder or otherwise – is ensuring sexual healthand safety. We’d be delighted to see other major social networks follow in our footsteps in educating the public.”

Now that the popular dating app decided to include the information in the service, AHF has officially confirmed that it will halt the campaign (such as linking the app to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia and gonorrhea) against Tinder.

A subsidiary of Match Group, Inc., owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, Tinder delivered a cease and desist letter to the non-profit following the popping up of billboards against it. For those who still don’t know what is Tinder – it’s an app where users can find nearby singles according to their interests and match them and help single people to connect. Numerous studies have linked the app to the growing sexually transmitted diseases in the United States, even the CDC had published a landmark research report in 2014.

Earlier, Whitney Engeran Cordova, a senior director at the AHF said in a statement, “We are unfortunately now waging an uphill battle on this front. The CDC also noted the majority of these infections are affecting young people – the demographic that is on their mobile phones all day long.”

Now that the STD testing center locator has been integrated into the Tinder app, the startup will help its users to understand the seriousness of sexually transmitted diseases and let them know that it is a real concern and they should not be taken lightly. Until now, the dating app users were getting together in an extremely casual fashion, where they were reportedly avoiding the serious and hard conversations like the one about STD prevention.

View Other Reports