HARRISBURG, Pa. — A popular dating app is launching a background check feature. Tinder will soon allow users to screen matches for records of violence or abuse, like arrests or convictions for restraining orders or harassment.
Some security experts, however, warned online daters should not rely on the feature.
As online dating has become the go-to option for singles who don’t want to stay that way, many already try to screen potential dates for concerning details.
“The world of online dating is very dangerous but particularly when you get into people you’re meeting for the first time, there’s always that impulse to look and see if they have a criminal history,” said John Sancenito, president of Information Network Associates, an international risk management, investigative and security consulting firm based in Harrisburg.
Commercial background checks often don’t catch all details, Sancenito said.
“The problem is that there’s no guarantee that it is the right individual. There’s also no guarantee that those aren’t false claims against them and that in fact they were found innocent of those charges,” Sancenito said.
Though law enforcement share information across agencies, there is no national criminal history database available to the public. Background checking software relies on a hodgepodge of law enforcement jurisdictions and agencies, some of which don’t post all charges online.
Garbo, the non-profit working with Match Group to implement the background check feature, says on its website that it pulls information from dozens of publicly available data sources.
“To be forewarned is to be forearmed. I think that the more information you can get the better,” Sancenito said. “I would definitely not rely on that as the only source of background when you’re trying to check out someone to decided if they’re a safe person to meet.”
Online daters have good reason to be cautious. More than a third of dating app users received unwanted sexually explicit messages or images, and 11 percent of females users said someone threatened to physically harm them, according to a February 2020 Pew Research Center report.
Law enforcement said the new background check feature could help prevent some dating violence.
“You should also take some other steps as well, and that’s just doing your due diligence in the online dating world,” said Cpl. Brent Miller of the Pennsylvania State Police.
Steps suggested by Cpl. Miller include:
Searching the person’s name online and on social media
Calling or videochatting before meeting in person
Finding separate transportation to the date
Meeting in a public place
Carrying personal protection such as pepper spray
Letting a friend know where you are and when you expect to be home
Staying sober on the first date
Criminal records in Pennsylvania can be searched using the state’s Unified Judicial System.
“Trust your gut,” Miller said. “If something seems suspicious, trust your gut and don’t go.”
The background check feature is expected to roll out sometime later this year for a yet-to-be-announced price.
It may eventually expand to other dating sites owned by Match Group, including Match.com, OKCupid, Plenty Of Fish and Hinge.