THE TIMES - Mar 20 - When Judith Duportail split from her boyfriend, she joined Tinder. This week she will publish L'Amour sous algorithme (Love under algorithm), a book that recounts her experiences on Tinder - her initial excitement at the flood of men contacting her, but also the sexually offensive comments, the disappointment that came with meeting her suitors for real, and the occasional unsatisfactory relationship. In her book, Duportail says users are given desirability scores that decide whether they are winners or losers in love. Tinder admitted that it used to use an "Elo score", borrowed from the world of chess, where a player goes up the rankings by beating a rival with a higher score or falling in the opposite situation. The company said it had dropped the Elo score, but added that "our current system adjusts the potential matches you see each and every time your profile is liked or noped", which seems to suggest that some kind of desirability ranking may still be operating. Duportail's book reveals that Tinder implemented parts of "Matching process system and method" patent (patent application US9733811B2). The system can classify users according to their wealth, ethnicity, religious preferences, intelligence and attractiveness, and to encourage dates between those of similar backgrounds. Tinder has dismissed Duportail's claims, saying that it does not implement those parts of the patent, which are "irrelevant" to its platform. "We don't believe in stereotypes," the company said.
by Adam Sage
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