Online Dating Applications and User Safety: Examining the Emerging Legal and Regulatory Framework

ABSTRACT
Modern relationships have been transformed by the introduction of online dating applications, by enabling rapid, location-based, and algorithm-driven connections, but they have also generated significant risks to user safety, privacy and dignity. This paper examines the legal challenges posed by dating apps, with particular attention to harassment, stalking, impersonation, fraud, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, data misuse, and the inadequacy of platform accountability mechanisms. It adopts a short, comparative approach, analysing Indian law alongside selected international legal frameworks to assess how different jurisdictions regulate intermediary responsibility, online safety, consent, and personal data protection. In the Indian context, the study considers the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and other relevant criminal law protections dealing with cyber harassment and sexual offences. The paper argues that while existing laws provide a partial basis for redress, they are not fully adapted to the specific risks created by dating-app environments, where anonymity, speed of contact, and data-intensive design intensify harm. It concludes by suggesting that a more effective legal framework must combine privacy protection, safer platform design, stronger grievance redressal, and clearer intermediary accountability to better protect users in digital intimate spaces.