The pilot covers surfaces that contain personally identifiable profile information, including Discover, Likes You and Standouts, WIRED reports. Apps like Raya and Grindr already offer screenshot protection, WIRED adds, but this is Hinge's first version of it.
Hinge frames it as a trust play. In its India announcement, the company says the features are designed to give singles more confidence over who can find them and how their content can be shared.
The reaction was split.
Some people were relieved. "I actually think this might be the first ethical development in online dating in years if not ever," writer Tres Dean wrote on X, per WIRED. In a TikTok video, Florida-based creator Kiara said she understands the change, even though she has posted screenshots to shame men whose profiles she called hypersexual or "super disrespectful."
Dating coach Chad Franklin, who posts as @DefundSimping and has 512,000 TikTok followers, isn't buying the argument that apps owe users protection from becoming a punch line. "If you enter the dragon's den, you may get bit by the dragon," he told WIRED. Still, he said, he does his best to block "every name, lip, face, and eye" when he posts screenshots, because he understands that people are "scared of getting hit-pieced."
The feature cuts both ways, because screenshots also do safety work. "Privacy's in tension with safety. Screenshots can document inappropriate behavior or allow someone to check in with a friend before meeting a stranger," said Lizzie Li, a communications researcher, per WIRED. Communities like Are We Dating the Same Guy? grew partly out of women sharing screenshots to address safety concerns, she added.
Hinge's pilot leaves room for that. Users will still be able to screenshot their messages with other matches to report an account over safety concerns, according to WIRED.
Alexis Ingber, an assistant professor at Syracuse University whose research focuses on privacy and emerging tech, told WIRED that "dating-profile dunking reflects a broader sense of entitlement to others' data."
Don't expect the feature stateside anytime soon. Hinge says testing in India is part of an initiative to help singles build trust with other users and with the platform, and the results will determine whether and how it expands, WIRED reports. There are no current plans to bring it to the US or other regions.
Franklin's advice to anyone who wants to avoid the problem entirely: "If you don't want to be potentially doxed, just don't get on a dating app. Go talk to a girl at a dog park. Go to a farmer's market."