Dating Dangerously: Risks Lurking within Mobile Dating Apps

Authors

Alyssa Murphy, Catholic University of America (Student)Follow

Abstract

In modern society, cell phones have become a virtual extension of most Americans. Advances in cell phone technology have given rise to the popularity of mobile dating applications (“apps”), which are capable of allowing users to date and meet potential partners without leaving the comfort of their own homes. The convenience and allure of mobile dating apps has led to a staggering increase in the number of crimes orchestrated against other users of the apps. Such crimes often include solicitation, stalking, murder, and human trafficking. Unsuspecting and trusting users fall victim to these crimes due to the false sense of intimacy conveyed on the apps.

This Comment discusses the importance of striking a delicate, but necessary balance between user’s privacy interests implicated while using the apps, and the need for user protection from these horrific crimes. In addition, this Comment suggests that for purposes of prosecuting and investigating perpetrators of dating app crimes, the Fourth Amendment protects user’s geolocation data differently than intimate information stored on the apps themselves.

Recommended Citation

Alyssa Murphy, Dating Dangerously: Risks Lurking within Mobile Dating Apps, 26 Cath. U. J. L. & Tech 100 (2017).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/jlt/vol26/iss1/7