Tinder wants to help people see what potential red flags mean for people they are dating or dating through quick and inexpensive criminal background checks.
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Starting this week, Tinder users will see a background check tool built into the popular dating app's Safety Center. The new option is part of a partnership between Tinder's parent company, Match Group, and Garbo, a nonprofit background check provider focused on raising awareness and preventing gender-based violence.
The update, announced Wednesday, comes a year after Match Group announced an investment in Garbo, putting seven-figures into the organization to help grow the service and make it accessible to its users. Along with the launch of Tinder, Garbo is also eliminating its waiting list and will allow anyone — Tinder user or not — to search its site for a small fee.
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Garbo, which bills itself as a new kind of background check for the digital age, was founded by Kathryn Kosmides. Garbo is currently searching public records of arrests, convictions, and sex offender registries in counties across the United States where they are accessible.
To conduct a search, Garbo asks for information that someone might have when meeting someone online as they get closer to a real date, such as first and last name and phone number. More information, such as age, date of birth, zodiac sign (which users can choose to share on Tinder and would help narrow down the birth month) and zip code, will help show more accurate results.
See also: Blind Date: The new feature released by Tinder
The goal is to arm online daters with information that can make them feel safer about their dates, but the service could also raise new concerns about how people will use it.
Source of information: edition.cnn.com
