Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Adults-only dating app uses location to match nearby people.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Badoo
Privacy Rating Warning
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What's It About?
Register for a free account on BADOO with a Facebook account or an email address. Create a profile with a photo and answer profile questions. Select options of who you want to meet (age, gender) and why (dating, friendship). If you do not turn on location services, there are essentially no options. Location services must be activated before you begin to see other users. Tap on photos; answer "Yes," "Maybe," or "No" to meeting up; send and respond to users' messages; list favorites; and more. Badoo is an adults-only social-networking dating tool.
Is It Any Good?
Badoo is a giant, worldwide social-networking site. Countless pictures of people will appear for browsing when a user registers (with messages such as "806,941 people in your area want to see what you look like and find out more about you"). Even if those people aren't all necessarily nearby, some of them likely are and they will know where you are. The user interface is orderly and easy to understand, although it seems to push people toward in-app purchasing options and inviting friends.
Badoo's app store description says it is "100 percent safe and secure," but the app's developers indicate they do not monitor and are not responsible for content posted. During this review, photos of users who appeared to be under 18 were observed. Badoo has been cited in reports as having problems with privacy, falsified accounts, and money scammers. It is not intended, safe, or appropriate for teens.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why (for legal and safety reasons) teens are prohibited from creating accounts on social-networking services, such as Badoo, that explicitly state they're for adults only.
For alternatives, check out Common Sense's Social-Networking Apps for Teens list.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Pricing structure : Free (You can buy optional subscription packs, "super powers," and contacts-limit increases via in-app purchases ($1.99 to $39.99). Some are auto-renew or auto top up.)
- Release date : June 17, 2014
- Genre : Social Networking
- Publisher : Badoo Software
- Version : 3.6.2
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 7.0 or later; Android varies with device.
- Last updated : June 20, 2019
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