OxShag will not be running this term as creator says they ‘made some poor choices’

The person behind the controversial OxShag account has confirmed that it will no longer be running this term.

OxShag, a hook-up site that aimed to unite Oxford students with other fellow students they wanted to “shag”, came under fire for it’s potential breach of GDPR laws and the university’s own policies regarding misusing its internal IT database.

But now OxShag’s creator has said that despite starting the website “genuinely with the best of intentions” they will no longer be running it this term due to the backlash it has received.

In a statement made to The Tab, the anonymous account holder described OxShag as not being dissimilar from something like Tinder, designed to “spice up the Oxford casual sex scene which is underwhelming.”

But it was not the concept of the dating website that fellow students at Oxford had a problem with. The site came under fire for featuring every University of Oxford student’s name as well as their college with no prior consent.

Despite saying they do apologise for the inclusion of student’s personal details on the website and admitting they “fucked up”, the creator says it has “been blown massively out of proportion” and that people need to “loosen up a bit”.

They said: “Like seriously, it’s your name and college?! The site was only up for a few hours and the data that was available was seriously unlikely to cause any harm.

“What could have been a fun event has been now ruined by the loud minority. Loosen up a bit, have a laugh, and take life a bit less seriously. I think those who are the most against OxShag are probably the most in need of it.”

The person behind the account hopes that this is not the end for OxShag. They told The Tab that after their own period of “self reflection” and if “attitudes have changed” by next term, then they will give OxShag “another crack.”

A University of Oxford spokesperson said: “The university was very concerned to learn of this website and is taking immediate action to minimise the risk to our students to our students and staff and rectify this misuse of personal data.”

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