It’s no secret that online dating has become more accessible, albeit more dangerous. It’s never been easier to hit up a stranger and meet them in a scaly place — which is why Tinder’s rolling out an authentication feature. The feature, detailed by the dating app itself, will require users to prove they are who they say they are by providing government-issued IDs.

The identification feature has been live in Japan since 2019, where users can generally use either an ID document or a passport to authenticate themselves in-app.

Tinder matching with privacy

According to Tinder, the feature is planned to roll out to the wider public (globally) in the ‘upcoming quarters’, which is a weird way to say ‘in the coming months’.

It plans to take government and app user recommendations into account as it plans to roll out into different countries — of course, each country may have different formats of identification. So Tinder would have to adhere to those formats and have a strict approval process in place.

“We know one of the most valuable things Tinder can do to make members feel safe is to give them more confidence that their matches are authentic and more control over who they interact with,” Rory Kozoll, head of Trust and Safety Product at Tinder said in a statement.

Initially, however, users won’t be forced to supply identification and will only be needed if it’s required by law to do so. Some users may not want to share personal information (like that found on an ID) online.

The app has been on a roll with its security features as of late, launching the ability to block users in their contact lists, prompts to help mitigate online abuse and the ability to do background checks on US users.

Source: The Verge