TINDER will soon allow users to do criminal background checks on potential dates.
The dating app announced the new feature on Wednesday and said it would be available to users beginning this week.
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Tinder’s parent company, Match Group, partnered with nonprofit background check provider Garbo on the new feature.
Users can access it in the app’s safety center, which will then redirect them to Garbo, the site where they will be prompted to give as much information about their potential date as possible.
Garbo requests information that users might already have about their match leading up to a date, including first and last name and phone number.
More information such as age, date of birth, zodiac sign, and zip code can help provide more accurate results.
Based on the information the user is able to provide, Garbo will search for arrests, convictions, and sex offender registry status, where accessible.
Garbo will also notify the user about how confident the service is about the results.
The company said it won’t give out identifying information, such as someone’s address history.
The first two background checks are free for Tinder users, and after that the checks are $2.50 each with a small processing fee, according to the company.
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Garbo has partnered with the National Domestic Violence Hotline to provide users with the option to live-chat with an advocate at any hour.
The Hotline provides resources for those seeking more information about healthy relationships and relationship abuse.
“Garbo seeks to democratize access to public safety information, which has traditionally been cost-prohibitive and difficult to obtain, and empowers people to make more informed decisions about who they interact with in real life,” Match Group said in a statement.
The new tool comes in the wake of reports of several dating app-related scams, including one by the so-called Tinder Swindler, who allegedly used the dating app to steal almost $10million.
Another Hinge user was accused of scamming a woman into sending $300,000 worth of Bitcoin.
Match Group said users can choose to report profiles to Tinder based on what they learn in a Garbo search.
“We want to protect those most vulnerable to experiencing harm both online and offline, and this is just the first step in delivering on our mission to help proactively prevent harm in the digital age,” Garbo founder and CEO Kathryn Kosmides said.
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