An experimental new dating site matches singles’ browser history

Unlike most dating apps (annual or annual fees charged per month for paid levels), only a one-time payment of 9 euros allows users to sign up for unlimited matches; the free option limits users to five matches. Depoorter said he doesn’t want to take advantage of users by paying regularly. He backed off when I suggested that today’s compensation model was mostly unheard of. “I’m an artist and I like to do different things.”

Early comments and reactions were mixed. One of the app developers pointed out on X is “super weird”.

“It’s the craziest idea,” said another user in another product hunt. “I love being bold.”

“It’s nice to see the focus of privacy from the beginning because of how sensitive this data may be,” a programmer posted on the Blues.

The biggest concern for users is the biggest issues surrounding privacy and user security, and these issues are also in his mind, given the amount of personal data Depoorter requires people to fork. The site can scan up to 5,000 recent browser searches or return in terms of search history, which may be years, but will never exceed the maximum number of entries. (Data from Incognito mode session cannot be uploaded). DePoorter uses Firebase, Google’s open source tools to develop AI applications, store and manage data.

“It has no access to the internet,” Depoorter said of the AI ​​processing, saying it happened locally. “I don’t want to get any browser history to another company.”

There have been complaints about lagging email verification and that the website does not allow users to delete their profile. Depoorter said he has since solved these problems. Browser dating currently does not allow uploads of photos, but DePoorter is working to change that number and says he plans to implement more features in the coming months, including an app to make it easier to communicate between connections and suggested features to prompt a possible first date location.

The idea was originally introduced in 2016 at the Center for Experimental Arts and Technology in Rotterdam. He is hosting a workshop that explores the unique connections among participants who are familiar with his work and agree to share a year’s search history.

The nature of Depoorter’s art as a digital provoker attempts to ask for subtexts of hidden connections, addressing some of his generation’s most pressing problems in a “critical and humorous” way. Surveillance, artificial intelligence, machine learning and social media recurred themes in his explorations. “Difficult topic,” he said as we spoke through Zoom. “But there is no big information. I want to keep that open. If anything, I want to show the possibilities of technology in an interesting way.”

In 2018, in a series titled “Jaywalking,” he provided live surveillance to video art, forcing viewers to face public data as a means of privacy intrusion. He died with me, a chat room app that is accessible only when the phone has less than 5% battery life; while DePoorter quickly rejected a definite explanation of his art, it sees it as a comment on how it is worth and how we choose to use it. For those who can go beyond the initial pride of Browing Jod, this question is also an urgent question: What if the curiosity we strive to cover is actually something that can bring us together?

Depoorter, 34, does not claim to be any dating master. “I’m not an expert,” he told me. He browsed Tinder early in the app but has been with his partner for 10 years. He assured that despite his work as an artist, the site is not a head and he wants to continue to expand. People have suggested it can better adapt to potential friends than romantic partners. DePoorter expects obstacles, but won’t sugar them. He realized how difficult it could be for a ship user who refused to share his anxiety and desires.

“Either it’s a fan of the idea or it’s not,” he said. “Not persuasive.”