cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10021205
Łukasz Olejnik, an independent consultant and researcher at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, told Poland’s PAP news agency that such platforms are attractive to intelligence services because they give access to personal information, location data, private conversations and emotional vulnerabilities.
The warning comes as Ukraine has reported Russian attempts to use dating platforms to gather intelligence and recruit people for sabotage.
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“Statistically speaking, it must have happened,” he said.
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Dating apps can be used in so-called honey trap operations, in which a romantic or sexual relationship is used to manipulate a target.
Olejnik said users often share photographs, location, lifestyle details, emotional needs and opinions themselves.
“The quasi-intimate context of the conversation can only lower vigilance,” he said.
Information gathered in this way can help identify a person’s home, workplace, military unit or public institution, Olejnik added. It may also be used to pressure or blackmail a target.
Ukraine’s defense ministry warned in February about fake profiles of women and people posing as law enforcement officers.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said false accounts on dating platforms had been used to collect personal data and force victims into sabotage. Such pressure could include threats to reveal sensitive information.
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In January, Ukraine detained a 22-year-old man suspected of trying to set fire to a post office after being recruited by Russian actors through a dating app. He was allegedly ordered to livestream the attack.
Germany has raised similar concerns. In 2023, its Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) said Russian agents had used the Tinder dating app to identify members of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, and treat them as potential sources of information.
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Researchers have also identified similar tactics in Chinese information operations. The NewsGuard service reported in June that 294 coordinated Threads accounts posed as attractive Asian women seeking Taiwanese men.
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