• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

Dating company OKCupid allegedly provided photos of nearly 3 million users -- along with demographic and location information -- to the facial recognition company Clarifai, the Federal Trade Commission alleged in a complaint unveiled Monday.

OKCupid and its parent companies, Match Group Americas and Humor Rainbow, also allegedly "engaged in extensive efforts to conceal and deny" the data transfers to Clarifai, the FTC alleged.

OKCupid and its corporate owners did not admit or deny the allegations, which date to 2014.

The dating company entered a settlement agreement that includes a requirement to refrain from misrepresenting its privacy practices in the future, and submit compliance reports for 10 years. The agreement awaits approval by a federal judge.

An OKCupid spokesperson said the alleged conduct "does not reflect how OkCupid operates today," and that the company has "over the years" strengthened its privacy practices.

"While we do not admit any wrongdoing, we have settled this matter with the FTC with no monetary penalty to resolve an issue from 2014 and move forward," the spokesperson stated.

The FTC generally lacks the power to fine first-time privacy violators.

OKCupid shared the information for free after Clarifia's founder asked the company in September 2014 for the data, according to the complaint. The FTC also said OKCupid's founders had financially invested in Clarifai.

The complaint claimed OKCupid deceived users by representing in its privacy policy that it wouldn't share their information with outside parties.

"Humor Rainbow did not give users an opportunity to opt out of having their personal information shared, as it stated it would in its privacy policy," the complaint states. "Indeed, Match and Humor Rainbow never informed users that Humor Rainbow shared their personal information."

The FTC also alleged that the dating company "obscured" its relationship with Clarifai in response to an inquiry from The New York Times.

In 2019, the newspaper reported that Clarifai's founder said the company "had built a face database with images from OkCupid." 

An OkCupid spokeswoman reportedly told the Times that Clarifai contacted the dating site about a possible collaboration, and that OKCupid "did not enter into any commercial agreement."

The spokeswoman "did not address whether Clarifai had gained access to OkCupid’s photos without its consent," the Times reported.

The proposed settlement is pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.