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I hacked a dating app (and how not to treat a security researcher)

(alexschapiro.com)
561 points bearsyankees | 1 comments | 12 May 25 16:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.205s | source
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michaelteter ◴[12 May 25 17:34 UTC] No.43965514[source]▶
Not excusing this is any way, but this app is apparently a fairly junior effort by university students. While it should make every effort to follow good security (and communication) practices, I'd not be too hard on them considering how some big VC funded "adult" companies behave when presented with similar challenges.

https://georgetownvoice.com/2025/04/06/georgetown-students-c...

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1. imiric ◴[12 May 25 18:21 UTC] No.43966035[source]▶
That sounds like you're excusing them.

You know what else was an app built by university students? The Facebook. We're all familiar with the "dumb fucks" quote, with Meta's long history of abusing their users' PII, and their poor security practices that allowed other companies to abuse it.

So, no. This type of behavior must not be excused, and should ideally be strongly regulated and fined appropriately, regardless of the age or experience of the founders.