Hinge Tests Screenshot Protection in India as Dating-Profile Dunking Debate Escalates

Key facts

• Hinge is testing screenshot protection in India, blocking captures on Discover, Likes You, and Standouts surfaces containing personally identifiable profile information.
• The India pilot is Hinge's first iteration of screenshot protection; no current plans exist to launch it in the US or other regions.
• Hinge has 30 million users and says the feature is part of an initiative to help singles build trust, alongside Comment Filter and Did This Bother You?.
• Users can still screenshot messages with matches to report accounts for potential safety concerns.
• Dating coach Chad Franklin, who posts as @DefundSimping with 512,000 TikTok followers, charges clients upwards of $5,000 and blocks identifying details when sharing their messages.
• A 2025 study in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication found screenshots create 'privacy turbulence' by allowing permanent storage and redistribution of private conversations without consent.
• Writer Tres Dean called the change 'the first ethical development in online dating in years if not ever'; X user @randy_mossad said it is better for a million cheaters to go unpunished than for one regular person to be humiliated.
• Communications researcher Lizzie Li noted privacy is in tension with safety, as screenshots document inappropriate behavior and allow check-ins before meeting strangers, citing communities like Are We Dating the Same Guy?.
• Syracuse University assistant professor Alexis Ingber said dating-profile dunking reflects a broader sense of entitlement to others' data.
• Florida-based creator Kiara said women now post men's profiles simply because they are not attracted to them, calling it 'wrong' and 'mean'.