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Dating apps have long been a part of our lives — few people have not looked into the world of “matches” at least for the sake of interest. Someone shares stories of failed dates, and someone marries the same guy with a funny profile. However, the question of the security of such acquaintances remained open until recently.
The Match Group, an American company that owns a number of dating services, has decided to add a new paid feature to Tinder: background checks of users. To do this, Match partnered with platform Garbo, which was founded in 2018 by abuse survivor Katherine Cosmides. The platform provides people with information about who they communicate with.
The service collects public records and reports of violence and abuse — including arrests and restraining orders — and makes it available to those who are interested, upon request, for a small fee.
Thanks to the collaboration with Garbo, Tinder users will be able to check information about any person: all they need to know is their first name, last name, and mobile phone number. Crimes related to drugs and traffic violations will not be counted.
What has already been done for security in dating services?
Tinder and rival Bumble have previously added video calling and profile verification features. Thanks to these tools, no one will be able to impersonate another person, for example, using photos from the Internet. Such tricks are not uncommon, as some users like to “throw off” to attract partners for a dozen or two years.
In January 2020, Tinder announced that the service would get a free panic button. If the user presses it, the dispatcher will contact him and, if necessary, help call the police.
Why was data validation required?
Unfortunately, current tools contribute only partly to strengthening user security. Even if you are sure that the interlocutor’s profile is not forged — the photo, name, and age match — you may not know many facts of his biography.
In 2019, ProPublica, a non-profit organization that conducts investigative journalism in the public interest, identified users officially identified as sex offenders on Match Group’s free platforms. And it happened that women became victims of rapists after meeting them in online services.
Following an investigation, 11 members of the US Congress sent a letter to the President of Match Group asking them to «take immediate action to reduce the risk of sexual and dating violence against its users.»
For now, the new feature will be tested and implemented on other Match Group services. It is not known when it will appear in the Russian version of Tinder and whether it will appear, but it would certainly be useful to us.