Online Data Debunks Lies
Being accused of doing something you didn’t really sucks. This Substack is dedicated to someone who was accused by a client of liking her profile and other things that happened on a popular dating app.
To keep it brief, she alleged that he liked her profile in a complaint to the worker’s supervisor. This could cause the employee to get fired. The subject of the complaint denies ever doing what she is accusing him of.
The complainant claims that it happened on a dating app, but she doesn’t have evidence because she didn’t screenshot it.
No problem!
The app: OKCupid.
The goal: confirm her allegations or debunk them to save the guy’s job.
Strategy #1 – Reset Likes
The complainant can reset her unlikes in her profile settings.
Step 1: Click on her profile picture.
Step 2: Click on Settings.
Step 3: Click on Privacy.
Step 4: Click on Reset your passes.
After she resets her passes, she can swipe until she finds the guy’s profile. Every OKCupid profile has a user ID attached.
Example: “Wk2cE2QTwZc_G_m8Jq3WCQX” is found in the URL.
This is the userid.
The way you go directly to the profile is typing in the search box: “www.okcupid.com/profile/userid”
This will take you directly to the profile.
I used a real userID in the link above but changed a few characters to protect the privacy of the user.
Strategy #2 – Request your data
She can make a request to OKCupid for access to her data. The data will show every profile she has swiped on. This will include the username, url, picture, and user ID.
If she lied, then she’ll be caught.
I suggested to the guy to request his own profile data so he can submit it as proof to his boss that such information can be obtained and that he never swiped right on her. This would of course require him to expose his personal information and activity on the dating app to his employer because the data file includes subscription information, email address, phone number, and personal messages.
Conclusion:
He would have to anticipate that she would be unwilling to share her data. He would have to share his or he can opt for a third strategy not discussed here: sue the client and her employer for defamation.
During discovery, both his and her OKCupid data will be subpoenaed and whoever lied will be exposed. It’s a fairly easy case and unlikely to go to trial.
The catch? Data usually stays on OKCupid for up to 3 months after an account is deleted. His attorney would need to request a hold on her account to keep it from being deleted and to do so through the courts is time consuming and may not be done quick enough to stop the data from being wiped clean from the main and backup servers.