Gay dating app Scruff has banned images of men in underwear or swimming trunks, after it was suspended from the Google Play app store several times. Scruff said it had changed its profile picture rules after "repeated suspensions by app store distributors" but declined to specify which stores. The app was most recently suspended from Google Play in January, when it disappeared for three days. Google told BBC News it did not comment on individual apps. Several Scruff members responded to the policy change on social media, threatening to delete their accounts.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. The revelation this week that dating app Tinder lacks basic encryption--meaning someone could discover whose profile you've viewed and which way you're swiping--has sparked some understandable alarm and outrage. The reality is even scarier: It's not a new discovery, and it's not just Tinder. Though Checkmarx, the security company that demonstrated the issue this week, reportedly notified Tinder back in November, Wired reports, its use of HTTP instead of the more secure HTTPS hasn't changed. Users' photos are still fetched via an unencrypted connection, meaning anyone else on the network--say, someone sitting in the same cafe--can intercept them, revealing the swiper's sexual and dating preferences.

Artificial intelligence, robots and all things shiny have taken the New Year by the scruff of its neck. I am not sure whether the fact that some of the robots made only marginally more sense than the average over-indulgent New Year reveller and had to have questions given to them in advance should inspire or worry us. But I confess to doing a bit of an ooh and an aah as I sat watching all this from the comfort of my lounge. And 2018 will likely see more than ever come our way. For as many people like the idea of this revolution in health care – and it does seem to genuinely deserve that description – there are of course those who don't.

When Facebook announced a tweak to its news feed algorithm Wednesday, dating apps were put in a bind. The change that would soon prioritize friends' posts over those from publishers quickly led media industry types to declare it, once again, the end of media. But Facebook's decision doesn't solely affect news outlets. More than 50 million businesses use Facebook Pages -- from big brands like McDonald's and Nike to small shop owners to startups building the next top smartphone app. The downgrade could encourage more page owners to pay Facebook to boost their posts into the news feeds of users.