Tinder, the popular dating app, has announced that new users in California will be required to use facial recognition technology to verify their profiles starting Monday. The move is part of Tinder parent company Match Group’s efforts to improve trust and safety after reports of user frustration with impersonation. The Face Check feature involves taking a short video selfie during onboarding, which is then analyzed by FaceTec’s biometric system. The system confirms if the person is real and present, checks if their face matches their profile photos, and detects if the face, the company’s head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, explained the initiative is part of broader measures to ensure users are not bots or spoofed accounts. The decision to implement the Face Check system comes as Match Group faces increasing pressure to address user concerns over safety and privacy. Roth stated, “We see this as one part of a set of identity assurance options that are available to users.” The company emphasized that the Face Check process is designed to ensure that users are real individuals, rather than artificial profiles, in an effort to reduce impersonation on the platform. The Face Check is separate from Tinder’s existing ID Check, which requires users to provide a government-issued ID for age and identity verification. The biometric face scan, powered by FaceTec, confirms the person is real and present. It also checks if the face is used across multiple accounts. If the criteria are met, the user receives a photo verified badge on their profile. The selfie video is then deleted after the verification process. The company stores a non-reversible, encrypted face map to detect duplicate profiles in the future. Tinder’s executives have acknowledged that the Face Check feature might have a short-term impact on user metrics, as some users may find the process intrusive or inconvenient. However, they believe the long-term benefits of increased trust and safety on the platform outweigh these potential downsides. The initiative is part of broader measures by Match Group to enhance the overall user experience and address ongoing concerns over identity fraud and impersonation. Meanwhile, the implementation of Face Check has sparked discussions about the balance between user privacy and the need for enhanced security features on social platforms. Critics have raised concerns about the potential misuse of biometric data and the implications for user privacy. However, Match Group has stated that the data is stored securely and is not used for any other purposes beyond identity verification. As the company moves forward with this initiative, it will be important to monitor the impact on user engagement and the overall effectiveness of the Face Check system in improving trust and safety on Tinder.