Tinder set to introduce background check feature to make dating safer

Dating apps have definitely revolutionized the way we date, with an endless number of options to choose from—Hinge vs Bumble, Tinder vs OkCupid—as well as a dating pool that's more accessible than ever before.

Virtual dating has become a skill that takes patience and practice (here are some pro-approved online dating tips to help). But like all things on the internet, dating apps have their dangers.

With social media, you can never be 100-percent sure of who you are talking to, and we’ve all heard horror stories about awkward dates or weird, rude messages. Bumble recently took steps to ban body-shaming, abuse, and harassment on the platform.

Now Tinder is taking further steps to make users feel safer on their apps, and provide you with more information on who you’re actually dating.

Match Group, which owns Tinder, is investing in a non-profit organization called Garbo, which can give background checks on people from their full name, or first name and phone number. Users will now be able to check if their potential date has a criminal record or history of violence and abuse.

In a statement released to news outlets, Match Group safety head Tracy Breeden said: “This is an industry first. There have not been any background check options in the dating industry.”

She continued: “For far too long women and marginalized groups in all corners of the world have faced many barriers to resources and safety.”

Breeden said that they recognize as a corporation that they can “play a key role in helping remove those barriers with technology and true collaboration rooted in action.”

It’s a positive, important step to helping us all feel safer online. You will now be able to find public records of any kind of convicted violence, abuse, arrests or restraining orders.

The new feature won’t be free, however, but they are working on a pricing structure across all of Match Group's online dating services and apps, including Hinge, OkCupid and, of course, Tinder.