Online dating background check controversy

Automated Background Reporting Mistakes Might Get You Banned from Dating Apps

By Ashley Carman. A ProPublica report today highlights a few incidents in which registered sex offenders went on dates with women who had no idea they were talking to a convicted criminal. The piece walks through individual attacks and argues that the apps have no real case for not vetting their users. The reporting positions Match as a company interested more in scale than user protection, like many other tech companies. People might not feel as open to discussing sexual preferences or talking freely. Women might not want their full names on the app out of fear of harassment.

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A state investigation alleged the Austin-based company, which also owns the dating app Badoo, had misrepresented its policies on background checks and failed to provide clear information to users about whether the apps had been conducting them as a safety feature. Bumble launched in and gained popularity as an app designed to have women be the first to initiate messages with their matches. The New Jersey attorney general's Division of Consumer Affairs began investigating the company in amid growing concerns about reports of sexual assaults occurring as a result of dating apps. During the investigation, the state found that Bumble and Badoo historically had screened at least some of their users against state and federal sex offender registries.

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Many users are unaware that when they agree to most datings apps' terms of service, they're consenting to background screenings that can result in false and damaging reports. Since the pandemic drove the world indoors, dating app usage has become as ubiquitous as masks and hand sanitizer.

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Adventure awaits in Crawford County

This blog is part of a 3-part series on background checks and data privacy. Newly proposed laws in Connecticut and Utah seek to require dating apps, like open , to disclose whether or not we perform background checks. Angela Romero, who authored the bill, has plans to reintroduce it.

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