TINDER NOW OFFERS BACKGROUND CHECKS

While the Tinder Swindler might have cost some women millions, for the rest of the people on Tinder his actions have actually added a safety net.

The dating app is now offering its users the chance to run background checks on matches thanks to its partnership with the startup Garbo.

Tinder hopes these background checks will help to empower users to make informed safety choices.

Tracey Breeden, head of safety and social advocacy at Tinder parent company Match Group, told Business Insider that the decision to offer access to background checks was made with user safety in mind.

“Nobody wants to step into a space that’s complex, that’s difficult. Safety’s hard,” she said. “And we have to be part of the conversation. We have to find a solution.”

Tinder users will get two free background checks on matches, if they want to do more than two checks, they’ll have to pay $2,50 per search.

Business Insider reports that the service is able to search public records with just a few pieces of a person’s information, like their first name and phone number. Garbo will then display any records it can find of arrests and convictions, as well as sex offender registry records.

Garbo won’t show a user’s home address and it won’t show drug possession, loitering or vagrancy charges, as Breeden says those types of offences have had an outsized impact on people of colour and marginalised communities.

Image credit: Mashable