Popular dating app Tinder has added a locator for testing locations on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to its smartphone app.
The addition ends a long battle with a California advocacy group, the LA-based AIDS Health Foundation. The quarrel has been a back and forth affair since the group launched an ad campaign last fall linking the mobile dating app with the spread of STDs. They plastered popular cities like New York with billboards denouncing the popular app.
The group pointed to a dramatic rise in STDs as motive for the campaign, citing a 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tinder fired back with their own response:
“An important aspect of any healthy relationship – whether formed on Tinder or otherwise — is ensuring sexual health and safety. While the CDC, who conducted the largest and most credible study on the topic, has never identified any connection that supports the idea that Tinder usage correlates with, let alone causes, an increase in STDs, we’re of course in favor of organizations that provide public education resources on the topic.”
In addition, Tinder immediately filed for a cease-and-desist letter as a response to the campaigning, according to NBC News.
But with the decision to add the locator for STD testing centers, the Health Foundation has backed off its aggressive stance.
Tinder now has a re-direct to their health safety page, including a bunch of information on STDs and how to prevent them. Some are still unhappy though: the app doesn’t make the page very accessible to the average user, requiring a bit of digging through the online platform.
Photo Credit: Thaspol Sangsee/Shutterstock
