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Bumble will allow users to log in without Facebook

Bumble will allow users to log in without Facebook

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Starting tomorrow, users will be able to create an account using a phone number

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

In response to recent concerns about Facebook’s handling of user data, Bumble has announced it will drop its Facebook login requirement for users. The dating app will allow users to log in and register for an account using a phone number beginning tomorrow, according to a new report from Wired.

The decision comes days after Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress to answer questions surrounding the recent Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. The London-based dating mining firm, which was hired by the Trump campaign in 2016, improperly obtained and used Facebook data to target potential voters.

In the wake of the scandal, Facebook launched new privacy tools and shut down a product that allowed third-party data providers to target on Facebook, but many are still concerned with Facebook’s reach outside its own platform. “Many of our users and prospective users asked for an alternative registration method,” Louise Troen, Bumble’s VP of international marketing and communications, told Wired.

Currently, Bumble’s Privacy Policy states that it can collect “login information and friend lists for social media accounts that you connect to your Bumble Account,” such as Facebook and Instagram. The phone number login method will allow users to avoid this.

Tinder, Match, and OkCupid already offer phone number login methods, but many users are still dependent on Facebook for the apps to work. Earlier this month, dozens of Tinder users who were logged in via Facebook were booted off the app due to a bug prompted by Facebook’s new privacy fixes.