Research Article
Identify Users on Dating Applications: A Forensic Perspective
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-031-56580-9_4, author={Paul Stenzel and Nhien-An Le-Khac}, title={Identify Users on Dating Applications: A Forensic Perspective}, proceedings={Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime. 14th EAI International Conference, ICDF2C 2023, New York City, NY, USA, November 30, 2023, Proceedings, Part I}, proceedings_a={ICDF2C}, year={2024}, month={4}, keywords={Dating application investigation user identification OSINT network traffic analysis mobile device forensics iOS forensics}, doi={10.1007/978-3-031-56580-9_4} }- Paul Stenzel
Nhien-An Le-Khac
Year: 2024
Identify Users on Dating Applications: A Forensic Perspective
ICDF2C
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-56580-9_4
Abstract
Online dating has grown in popularity since the introduction of the World Wide Web and within the last decade the widespread use of smartphones and dating applications, or ‘apps’. Associated with this popularity is the increased scrutiny around these apps and what companies are doing to protect users’ private information. Dating apps are one of the riskiest, considering the users of these apps outline their innermost thoughts and desires, along with sharing intimate images and, in most cases, their location that can potentially identify their home, work, and other locations users may not intend to share. Associated with the privacy risks is the use of dating apps for criminal purposes including; stalking, sexual violence, drug dealing, and other violent crimes. These crimes present a challenge to law enforcement as the offenders may not be known to the victim(s) at all which may mean the lines of inquiry for investigators are limited in identifying the offender’s real identity. There has been no study in literature into what investigators could obtain from these apps to identify another user if you only had one account, such as an account from a victim of a crime. Therefore, in this paper, we examine six of the ‘top’ dating applications and outline a process to analyze data obtained from their use to determine whether there is sufficient information that can be obtained to identify another user profile and their real-world identities.
