While millions of people use Tinder worldwide, there’s inherit risk to dating apps. For example, people might not be who they say they are, perhaps in order to scam you or to mask their less desirable qualities.
Tinder has taken several steps to try and combat this. In January 2020, Tinder added photo verification and a panic button.
Now, the dating app is going one step further, as you’ll eventually be able to perform a background check on someone you’re interacting with. It’ll mean that you can make a more informed decision about whether to meet them or even continue talking to them.
Match Group Partners With Garbo for Background Check Technology
As announced through a Tinder press release, Match Group (Tinder’s parent company) has made a seven-figure investment in Garbo.
Garbo was founded in 2018 by Kathryn Kosmides, a survivor of gender-based violence. The company provides “low-cost background checks by collecting public records and reports of violence or abuse, including arrests, convictions, restraining orders, harassment, and other violent crimes”.
This information has typically been difficult to access or provided by for-profit companies. As a non-profit, Garbo aims to make it simple and easy for people to make informed decisions about whom they decide to meet.
In the coming months, Match Group will begin to test and build Garbo integration with Tinder. This will mean that you can get a better sense of whom the person you’re talking to is.
Match Group’s investment will also accelerate Garbo’s expansion, allowing it to integrate into a range of technology platforms.
Of the investment, Kosmides said:
Before Garbo, abusers were able to hide behind expensive, hard-to-find public records and reports of their violence; now that’s much harder. Being able to reach historically underserved populations is fundamental to Garbo’s mission and the partnership with Match will help us connect with these communities.
The aim is for the background check feature to be available on Tinder later this year, with the capabilities then extended to the other Match Group brands (like Hinge and OkCupid).
Exact details of how this feature will work are unknown, though it won’t be free—presumably the cost will be reasonable to make it accessible, and perhaps it’ll be available as part of Tinder’s membership tiers.
The press release notes that specific details on the implementation will be available over the next several months.