Dating App Bumble Offers Account Creation Without Facebook

Being associated with Facebook isn’t the best thing for a company right now, but the social network has become so ubiquitous that it’s nearly impossible to actually get rid of it. The dating app Bumble found a way to at least mitigate the damage that this association can do by giving users another option for creating an account. It uses phone numbers.

Although it can often be easy to forget in the age of Messenger, Skype, and other messaging platforms, phone numbers are still actually a thing. Once the new update for Bumble launches, this is what will be used to register for an account with the app so that its users can avoid the data-collecting practices of Facebook, WIRED reports.

Prior to the new registration update, Bumble offered the same convenience in signing up or logging in as practically every other app on the internet right now, which is through a Facebook account. Basically, by clicking on the command Facebook Login, the users simply need to connect with their account on the social network to use the app’s services.

Given how toxic the social media giant is right now, however, it was only natural that Bumble would minimize Facebook’s involvement with the platform. In fact, the company notes that even though other apps offer the same option, they still share data with the social network. Bumble guarantees that it will not do this if users don’t explicitly agree to it by signing in with their Facebook account.

The app is also quite clear on what it does do with the information of those who log in using Facebook, The Verge notes. In any case, what Bumble is trying to do is to at least give users the genuine ability to stay out of the reach of the social network, which is still trying to get its mitts on everyone’s personal details.