You'll soon need a driver's license or passport to get a blue checkmark on Tinder — and take a selfie to prove it's you
Tinder users will have to submit a driver's license or passport and a video selfie to get a blue checkmark on the app.
- Tinder users will have to submit a video selfie and some kind of ID to be verified on the app.
- The dating app will check to make sure your date of birth lines up with your ID.
- Tinder says the new feature, first seen in Australia and New Zealand, will roll out to more countries this spring.
Tinder doesn't want you getting catfished anymore.
Tinder announced it's expanding its verification requirements to make users share a video selfie and a photo ID to get a special verification badge.
To get the blue checkmark, your video selfie has to match the photo on the ID and the pictures on your profile. Tinder will also make sure that the ID lines up with your listed date of birth.
Users who only complete photo verification will now get a blue camera icon badge on their profile; users who only complete the ID verification will show a blue ID icon badge.
The new verification feature was first launched in Australia and New Zealand. It'll be available this spring in the US, UK, Brazil, and Mexico.
"Given each market is different and is nuanced, we are expanding country-by-country and will continue to learn and enhance the feature as we roll it out to more users," Match Group spokesperson Kayla Whaling told BI.
Tinder launched its first verification process in 2020, which required a photo selfie to confirm identity. Last year, the app took its security measures a step further by requiring a video selfie to get the blue checkmark.
Other apps, like Hinge and Bumble, have similar verification processes in place. Hinge has users submit a video selfie, which can take up to 24 hours to get approved.
Bumble requires users to select a pose and take a photo mimicking it, which is then reviewed by a real person within minutes.
Whaling said that Tinder is working with a third-party vendor to verify users' date of birth and double-check their submitted selfies and IDs.
Tinder noted that users last fall using the new ID verification matched with others 67% more.
"It will help give users additional peace of mind when connecting with others who are both photo and ID-verified," Whaling said.
Users on dating apps have had to deal with scammers using "romance scams" to get their money and information.
Cyber security management company Tenable recently found that AI is making it easier to pass off fake accounts on dating apps. According to Satnam Narang, a senior staff engineer who authored the report and tried the app himself, some of these profiles managed to get verified even though they seemed illegitimate.
In response, Whaling told BI: "As new technology evolves, we are evolving with it in order to help maintain the integrity of our apps."
In addition to photo and ID verification tools, Tinder has invested in detection tools that remove spam immediately at sign-up or before the account is seen by other users, Whaling said.
Tinder removes 44 spam accounts per minute across Match Group, Whaling said.
Launched in 2012, Tinder has been downloaded over 530 million times, according to a statement. More than half of all users are 18 to 25 years old.
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