Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I assumed I was safe from judgement by my family and their friends. Then Tinder rips that privacy you thought you had away! Why would you think your profile is "secret" in any way to begin with? It is literally an app that shows you others using it NEARBY yourself. And a highly popular one at that. The profiles are also public and there is no indication to them being private as far as I've ever read about the app.
One could say that there is an expectation that only other tinder users will discover you. Kinda like going to a bar or a strip club, which are activities that your community may disapprove of. Thus, you only encounter members outside of your community, or community members who are cool with it.
A disapproving family member could still go to a bar or open an account to try to find you there. Which you should be aware of because they are both still publicly accessible spaces.