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Pipeline — Help Shape It

WanderDate

Privacy-first dating — Grindr sold user HIV status to advertisers, Scruff sold location to data brokers, 70% of LGBTQ+ people report harassment on dating apps, trans users face systematic misgendering.

Community & Lifestyle
ReplacesGrindr ($7M GDPR fine, HIV status sold) / Scruff (location to brokers) / Tinder/Hinge (trans filtering enabled)

About

Grindr sold user HIV status data to advertising companies in 2018 — users disclosed HIV-positive status in their profiles and Grindr treated it as advertising data. Norwegian data protection authorities fined Grindr $7M in 2021. Scruff and similar apps share precise location data with data brokers, enabling stalking, outing, and physical targeting — documented in activist communities where men who have sex with men live under criminalization. 70% of LGBTQ+ people report harassment on mainstream dating apps; trans users face systematic misgendering, outing, and profile removal even when following platform rules. Tinder and Hinge allow users to filter out trans people via settings that effectively implement discrimination. No major dating app was designed with LGBTQ+ safety as a first principle — they were all retrofitted. WanderDate is LGBTQ+-native: no precise location, no health status data treated as advertising, trans and nonbinary inclusive from day one, block and report that produces outcomes, and no swipe-to-addiction design that monetizes loneliness.

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Features

  • No precise location — city-level proximity only, no real-time location sharing
  • No health status data in advertising pipeline — Grindr model explicitly rejected
  • Trans + nonbinary inclusive from day one: pronouns, identity labels, not retrofitted checkboxes
  • Kink-aware safety settings: what you share with who, not public-by-default
  • Block + report that works: harassment reviewed, not automatically dismissed
  • No swipe-to-addiction design — engagement designed for connection, not session length
  • Profile removal protection: trans users won't be banned for being trans
  • No data broker feed: your dating activity not sold to insurance or employer data aggregators
  • WanderSafe integration: destination risk context when planning to meet in new locations
  • WanderShadow option: alias-based profile for people who cannot be out in their area
Hand-assembled

Built by supported employment workers — people with intellectual disabilities, autism, and physical disabilities — through WWP's fulfillment program. Every product ships with a Built By card. Competitive wage, never 14(c) subminimum.

Repair & refurb

Send it back. Prepaid label. Component-level repair, module upgrades, firmware updates. 7-year spare parts guarantee. Donate on return — refurbished hardware goes to shelter and community partners. GPL firmware: the device works even if WanderVerse shuts down.

No hardware subscription — ever

BMW charged $18/mo for heated seats already in your car. GM locked remote start. Eero charges for VPN on hardware that could run it free. We don't do that. You bought it, you own it — every feature works forever, no subscription required. WanderAssist ($9/mo optional) is a convenience layer, never a gate. Safety features are never paywalled.

Pro & Lux tiers — coming

Every WanderVerse hardware product will offer Pro and Lux finish tiers — premium materials and handcrafted finishes by WanderVerse Artisans: supported employment workers with artistic skills. Each Lux unit ships with a Finished By card. Lux revenue cross-subsidizes nonprofit pricing.

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