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Cape Town - A new application that encourages women to rate men launches in South Africa on Thursday.
The application dubbed Lulu is heavily focused on women who are allowed to rate and it promises anonymous reviews of men as dates. While men can flirt with women using the app, they cannot see who rated them or what they said.
"We're thrilled to bring Lulu to South Africa. The Lulu app is an essential resource for anyone who's dating today. We provide unique insight into who the good guys are and what all guys should know about themselves and what women want," said Alexandra Chong, Lulu CEO.
Women sign up to Lulu to share their dating experiences and rate dates, but the app doesn't allow the freedom to write any review.
You have to answer multiple choice questions and rate the man in terms of a number of hash tags.
Removal tool
Some categories include #HartKlopTjoklits ("heart beats crazy"), #ShisaNyamaGuy ("braai guy"), and #RokJagter ("skirt chaser").
Men, in turn, can see the hash tags women have used to describe them. In addition, participants can then flirt with secret admires on the platform.
Males who want to be removed from the application can do so via a self-removal tool, available online.
In the US, Lulu has been downloaded more than five million times and nearly one million men have signed up to get feedback from women.
But the app has not been without controversy.
The company has faced legal action in Brazil over what an unnamed male plaintiff deemed an unfair rating.
An IBM study also found that dating apps in general are the most targeted applications for malware because of the personal nature in which such applications operate.
"IBM found that 73% of the 41 popular dating applications analysed have access to current and historical GPS (global positioning system) location information. Hackers may capture your current and former GPS location details to find out where you live, work or spend most of your day," the company said.
While Lulu works much more as a male review platform, the application requires your identity, contact information, location data and your device ID, among other information, upon installation.
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