Ashley Madison
Ashley Madison, also known as The Ashley Madison Agency, is a popular online dating and social networking service owned by Ruby Inc of Canada. Launched in 2001, it caters primarily to individuals who are already in committed relationships or marriages and seek extramarital affairs.
Critics have strongly criticized Ashley Madison, referring to it as a "profit-driven enterprise preying on the broken-hearted". Additionally, allegations have surfaced suggesting that the platform manipulates its user base numbers through the creation and allowance of fake accounts.
In 2015, Ashley Madison gained infamy due to a major security breach where the personal information of millions of users was exposed to the public. This incident sparked widespread attention and controversy.
It's major competitors include, but are not limited to, Sasha7, Gleeden, and Second love.
Ashley Madison operates credit-based system instead of traditional monthly subscriptions. To initiate a conversation between two members credits must be paid. Once the conversation is started, subsequent messages exchanged between the members are complimentary.
Another payment option provided by Ashley Madison is the Member Initiated Contact (MIC), a pre-selected and recurring subscription service. By subscribing to MIC, users can send messages without using credits as long as they initiate the conversation. The cost of MIC varies depending on the region, typically ranging from $19 to $29 per month.[1]
To maintain privacy, users have the option to hide their account profiles free of charge. However, if users wish to delete their accounts, including those created without their consent, a fee of $19 is charged. The "full delete" feature claims to remove user profiles, messages, site usage history, personally identifiable information, and photos. However, data disclosures in 2015 revealed that the "permanent deletion" did not erase the data completely, as it was still recoverable.
