After a long wait – and a delay due to data protection concerns – Facebook Dating has finally launched in Europe.
Facebook Dating, was launched in the US back in early September 2019 and was supposed to land in Europe on Valentine’s Day this year. However, companies that want to launch services like Facebook Dating need to go through a Data Processing Impact Assessment (DPIA) under GDPR.
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Apparently, Facebook wasn’t able to notify authorities in time, so due to data protection concerns raised by regulators in Ireland, the company decided to push back the launch.
In any case, with today’s launch, Facebook Dating is now available in 32 more countries – bringing the total up to 52, globally.
The new countries include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Facebook Dating is also currently available in 20 other countries, including, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, the United States, Uruguay, and Vietnam.
Users sign up with their existing Facebook account and use it to find matches with others on the platform, using their activity and preferences to do so. Facebook Dating offers the same features in these countries as it does in the United States.
Dating appears as a tab in Facebook’s mobile app and it can access stories and photos from Instagram as well. Furthermore, users can go on video calls through Messenger, and the Secret Crush feature can search through your Instagram followers and Facebook friends for matches.