In a world where bippity-boppity-boo has decidedly become swippity-swipe-ity-weird unsolicited eggplant emoji, it's more difficult to navigate the ~dating scene~ than ever. One website is offering a unique if not slightly creepy solution — Swipe Buster lets users search names on Tinder to see if your significant other is cheating on you by actively using the app. Basically, if you've gone hunting for side bae on Tinder recently, you should be starting to sweat about now.
The site charges $4.99 for up to three individual searches, and works fairly easily. All you have to do when you look for the person in question is enter their name and the area where they were most likely last swiping, and the website will pull it up for you. Seem a little too easy? Here's some Tinder 101 (and a lot of location-based apps 101, for the record): most information like that is already public and searchable. A Tinder spokesperson told Bustle, "The searchable information on the website is public information that Tinder users have on their profiles. If you want to see who's on Tinder we recommend saving your money and downloading the app for free."
Fair point — but that being said, catching your partner on Tinder kind of defeats the purpose if you have to get on Tinder yourself to do it. Sounds a little bit like the Tinder pot calling the kettle swiped.
And I suppose you could always go the tried-and-true route of shenaniganning your BFF into getting on Tinder and swiping through people in the area, but that's exhaustive and somehow seems way more neurotic than simply paying a five dollar fee one time for your peace of mind.
Of course, the very existence of this website brings up another hot button issue: If you are suspicious that your partner is cheating on you, on Tinder or otherwise, should you be in a relationship with that person in the first place? It seems like the relationship is in trouble before a person goes ahead and pays Swipe Buster to find out for sure. Of course, we found out from many viral and often heartbreaking stories that came out of the Ashley Madison hack last year that a lot people are entirely unaware that the cheating happened in the first place, which certainly is keeping everyone on their toes in the aftermath.
As for the release of information, Tinder has a public A.P.I. that makes it possible for Swipe Buster to exist in the first place. Because when you think about it, Swipe Buster doesn't just let you look up your partner — its capabilities let you look up anyone you know. Curious if your ex is still swiping in Boston? Check. Feeling like enough of a terrible person that you want to see if your frenemy is cheating on their partner? Also check. And say if an ex of yours that you wanted to avoid got on there, and they weren't quite sure where you lived now — if they spent enough money to check enough places, they could totally narrow down what city you're living in now. Sure, the information is technically "public," but there is no denying the slightly sinister quality of making it so accessible, even to people who aren't on Tinder in the first place.
Bustle reached out to Tinder for comment on whether or not the A.P.I. will remain public in light of this, but the spokesperson only responded with the previous statement regarding the nature of the information.
Images: valentinrussanov/E+/Getty Images; Giphy
