Until now, Chinese dating apps had one thing in common: foreigners who wanted to use them had to have a solid knowledge of Mandarin. That has changed with Tantan, which has been on the market since 2014 and available in English since last year. But experts warn: the app poses huge security risks.

People who are looking for a partner online usually don’t want close friends or relatives to know about it, and they certainly don’t want chat logs and passwords to be accessible to others. Ever since the Ashley Madison hacker scandal, the theft of sensitive personal data has been a top topic in the Western media. While American and European app providers are now trying to take users’ concerns into account, Chinese start-ups are still quite careless with user data.

The best example: is Tantan. At first glance, the app seems fascinating. The interface is simple and user-friendly. There are few annoying extras and anyone who has already had experience with Tinder can find their way around the hot dating app in just a few minutes. But to better understand Tantan, it’s worth taking a look behind the scenes.

Passwords and user names are easily visible

American and European IT experts like Larry Salibra have long been raising the alarm about the lack of basic security measures, such as the encryption of personal data. Unlike Tinder, where it is enough to register via Facebook, Tantan asks for a phone number during the verification process. The user is then asked to enter a password. And that’s not all: Tantan scans its users’ WeChat profiles and suggests hiding their profile from their WeChat contacts – or not.

Anyone who takes a closer look at the app and uses the Apple Xcode Developer Tool to look behind the scenes will be surprised. The tool allows app developers to view the “console log” of a smartphone via a text window. This makes it possible to determine whether an app is working correctly or whether parts of it need to be improved.

With professionally designed apps such as Twitter, Facebook, or Tinder, a large part of the data communicated between users is not visible. The developers block certain content before making the app available to users.

Not so with Tantan: IT expert Salibra points out that the data that is sent back and forth between your smartphone and the servers is very easy for outsiders to see. This includes very personal information such as telephone numbers and passwords.

Users are not very concerned about security vulnerabilities

The majority of Chinese smartphone users do not seem to be bothered by the security gaps. As Technode reports, Tantan now has at least 2.5 million active users. According to the operators, 80 percent are in their mid-20s or younger, and two out of three users are male. The app is particularly popular with foreigners in the big cities. In some parts of Beijing, almost one in ten users is a Laowai.

When it comes to security vulnerabilities and fraudulent behavior, other dating apps have also repeatedly fallen into disrepute in recent years. Until a fundamental relaunch last year, Momo was long considered the first port of call for fraudsters. However, efforts are now being made to create a more reputable image and the app is gradually being developed into a social network for teenagers and people in their early twenties. Tantan does not seem to have such intentions and there are currently no signs of any serious efforts to improve user security