Tinder not working as Facebook privacy changes make app go down – but there is a fix

It might look like your matches and messages have disappeared. But they probably haven't

Picture: (Getty Images)

People around the world are being kicked out of Tinder and not being allowed in.

The problems with the app appear to be the result of changes Facebook has made to its login service. Those updates are part of Facebook's response to a scandal over how it uses data – but have inadvertently broken one of the world's most popular apps.

Others are suggesting that they can get into their account but all of the matches and messages that they have appear to have disappeared once they do.

Thankfully, there does appear to be a workaround. Tinder has also acknowledged the issue and suggested that it is working on a fix.

The issue appears to be a consequence of the fact that Tinder uses Facebook to let people log in and take information from their profiles. That information includes some of the site's most sensitive information and useful data, such as pictures and friends lists.

Facebook has been revoking some of that data sharing in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. As part of those reports, it became clear that a researcher had been using a Facebook quiz to collect up information about users of the site – prompting the company to restrict the amount of information that other apps can access about Facebook users.

That change appears to have stopped Tinder getting access to the information it sees about its users. That includes their logins – meaning that they can't get into the app.

But the problem appears to be solved by heading to the web version of Tinder, which can be found at its website. That little used feature – which lets people swipe and message from their computers or any other device – was introduced almost exactly a year ago.

People logging into that version of the site are seeing all of their missing matches and messages, and are able to respond to them. It also suggests that the profiles have only disappeared temporarily, and will presumably arrive back again once the bug is worked out with Facebook.