Tinder makes facial recognition mandatory in the Golden State

The platform is trying to tackle bots and users with multiple accounts.

Tinder is making it mandatory for users in California to verify their profiles through facial recognition technology.

The new verification process takes effect on Monday. Match Group, the American company that owns and operates several online dating platforms, including Tinder, introduced it to tackle impersonation and thus improve trust and safety in the world of online dating.

The verification tool, called The Face Check, asks users to take a video showing their face during registration. The biometric face scan can then tell if the person is real, whether their face matches their profile pictures, and whether the same face is used in other accounts.

If the user meets all the criteria, their profile is considered verified, and their profile then includes a badge that proves it. After successful verification, the video is deleted.

To detect duplicate profiles in the future, Tinder collects non-reversible, encrypted face maps, reports Axios.

It also notes that Face Check isn’t the same as Tinder’s ID Check, which requires a user to submit a government-issued identification document for age and identity verification.

The main idea behind using Face Check is to ensure that the person about to enter the platform is a real person and not a bot.

Face Check is already available in Colombia and Canada. According to Yoel Roth, Match Group's head of trust and safety, the company chose California next because of its demographics, size, and online safety and privacy laws.

Like other dating apps, Tinder has increased its safety features over time. In 2020, the application introduced photo verification through selfies presented in real time and then added ID verification a year later.

With Face Check, the application will observe users' responses to see whether the feature is well-received and should be used more widely.