Tinder’s mandatory facial recognition check comes to the US

Tinder is trialing mandatory facial designation information features successful the US to verify profiles and ace down connected impersonation and fake accounts. New users successful California are present required to supply a biometric “Face Check” scan to corroborate their look matches their illustration photos for the dating service, Axios reported connected Monday.

The Face Check diagnostic involves taking a abbreviated video selfie that’s utilized to lucifer biometric indicators and beryllium that the Tinder idiosyncratic isn’t a bot utilizing artificially generated images, providing them with a verified badge upon completion. The scan volition besides cheque if the user’s look is being utilized successful aggregate accounts, which could assistance to forestall users from being impersonated oregon having their likeness utilized by deceptive “catfish” profiles. 

Face Check is abstracted from Tinder’s ID Check feature, which uses government-issued ID to verify users’ property and identity, portion Face Check seemingly lone requires users to upload a selfie video. Tinder users person provided video selfies to verify their profiles since 2023, but verification wasn’t a mandatory request for creating a Tinder account. This alteration means that Californians volition person to implicit immoderate mentation of verification if they privation to usage the level astatine all. 

“We spot this arsenic 1 portion of a acceptable of individuality assurance options that are disposable to users,” Match Group’s caput of spot and safety, Yoel Roth, told Axios. “Face Check … is truly meant to beryllium astir confirming that this idiosyncratic is simply a real, unrecorded idiosyncratic and not a bot oregon a spoofed account.”

Tinder says the selfie video is deleted erstwhile verification is complete, but that the level stores a “non-reversible, encrypted look map” to observe duplicate idiosyncratic accounts successful the future. 

The Face Check diagnostic has already been piloted successful Colombia and Canada, with Roth telling Axios that those tests showed “promising” results successful “improving perceptions of authenticity” and reducing reports of atrocious actors. Tinder volition present show however users successful California respond to the Face Check diagnostic earlier deciding if it should beryllium rolled retired much broadly crossed the US, according to Roth.