The Tinder dating app will give US users the ability to check if your potential dates have been convicted of violent crimesa function that, according to experts, still has limitations.
The app’s parent company, Match Group, announced Wednesday that it will begin offering access to Garbo, a new US online platform that background check and can show if a person has a criminal history of violence.
After browsing Garbo through the Tinder app, users enter the name, phone or other details about the potential date to check information about sexual assault arrests, convictions, or records.
Dating apps like Tinder have called for action after scores of women reported being sexually assaulted by men they matched with on the platform.
“East it’s just the first step in our mission to help proactively prevent harm in the digital age,” said Garbo founder Kathryn Kosmides.
Match anticipated that more than 500,000 free searches would be available and that those checks would then cost $2.50 plus a handling fee.
Tinder users in the United States will be able to check their potential dates for criminal records. Photo Denis Charlet/AFP
Sexual violence and contact with strangers
Sexual violence researcher Nicole Bedera told the AFP news agency that sexual assaults are often not reported to authorities and documented cases face barriers in the judicial system. It is a crime for which “you will see a lower conviction rate,” she lamented.
Sarah Lageson, associate professor at Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, points to a lack of consistency in criminal records and a racial bias present.
“Many white sexual predators do not have criminal records and many black people have a misleading or unfair one,” he warned.
For his part, Garbo drew attention to the fact that today we all “are connecting with more strangers than ever and yet we know very little about who we are meeting.”
With information from AFP
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