Tinder will soon enable users to run background checks on their matches, helping you find any skeletons in the closet before getting anywhere near the bedroom.
Announced in a press release on Monday, Tinder's parent company Match Group has partnered with non-profit background check platform Garbo to integrate the service into its U.S. app. While anyone can get a background check regardless of their gender or sexuality, the new feature is being introduced specifically with the protection of women and marginalized groups in mind.
"For far too long women and marginalized groups in all corners of the world have faced many barriers to resources and safety," said Match Group head of safety and social advocacy Tracey Breeden. "We recognize corporations can play a key role in helping remove those barriers with technology and true collaboration rooted in action."
To do a background check in Tinder, all you'll need to do is look up your match using either their first and last name or their first name and phone number. It sounds like a pretty simple tool to help you make more informed dating decisions.
Not all elements of your date's shady past will come up in these checks though, so you will still have to get to know your potential paramour. While Garbo reveals public records of abuse and violent crime, it leaves out more minor matters like parking fines. It also excludes arrests relating to drug possession, due to the disparate way marginalized people are policed on this issue.
The background checks won't be free either, though pricing details haven't yet been determined.
"We’re still working out the pricing structure, but ultimately we want to be sure that the background checks are at a price point where it’s accessible to users," a Match Group spokesperson told Mashable.
SEE ALSO:Tinder sees massive rise in mentions of 'courting' and 'flirting' in biosTinder will be begin testing Garbo over the next few months, with full app implementation expected later this year. Match Group isn't stopping there though, aiming to incorporate background checks into its other U.S. brands as well. The group currently owns several other popular online dating services, including PlentyOfFish, OkCupid, and Hinge.
Match Group also told Mashable that it has made a seven-figure financial contribution to Garbo, and will also be contributing time and resources to make it fully operational in their services.
"The MG funding will be used to hire employees across engineering, product, and leadership," said the spokesperson. "We want to help make the platform not only available to our users, but to users of other tech platforms like rideshare, etc."
"Before Garbo, abusers were able to hide behind expensive, hard-to-find public records and reports of their violence; now that’s much harder," said Garbo's founder and CEO Kathryn Kosmides.
Of course, Garbo can only work with the data available, and around 80 percent of sexual assaults are never reported. It's also easy to circumvent these checks by using a fake name, which people are more likely to do if they're hiding something or have sinister intentions.
"Inconsistent or false information means that a user will be unable to run a background check on that individual," said the Match Group spokesperson.
Still, hopefully this new feature will help keep some women and marginalised people just a little bit safer.
Related Video: How to prevent cyberstalking
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