Chris M
Gay hookup app Grindr has announced its teaming up with safety experts to help protect its users.
The URSafe app (available for Android and iOS) is a “hands-free voice-activated personal safety app” that integrates with emergency services to allow you to meet your matches, while knowing that someone has your back.
The app is designed not just for daters, but for anyone in a vulnerable situations such as unfamiliar travel destinations and dodgy neighbourhoods, not to mention suspicious public travel vehicles.
Under the agreement, Grindr users will be offered a free two-week trial of the app, enough time to demonstrate the functionality between the two.
“While many people face uncomfortable situations in the dating process, like awkward conversations or getting stood up, there are serious safety risks that plague the dating community and affect LGBTQ+ individuals at a statistically disproportionate rate,” said Anthony Oyogoa, M.D., CEO and Co-Founder of UrSafe.
“UrSafe has always been a global advocate for those of diverse backgrounds and orientations, and the app’s top priority is, and always will be, bridging the technology gap to ensure that everyone has access to basic safety and protection in all aspects of their lives.”
After a shaky start, Grindr has been investing heavily in user security in recent months, and the hook-up with URSafe is considered to be a long-term partnership.
URSafe is keen to point out that this means that four of the top 10 dating apps now have a partnership with URSafe.
The company recently expanded outside the US and now offers a worldwide layer of security, including options to set friends and family who you can check in with or even lets them follow you on a map if you choose.
Additionally, a voice activated feature lets you call the emergency services if you get into difficulty, whilst the classic ‘Fake Call’ rouse lets you get out of a bad date, quick-smart.
The move comes exactly a year after Tinder added extra security for LGBTQ+ users in potentially hostile locations.
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