Tinder announced that it was in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and Mexico. This is part of an ongoing effort to reduce the number of catfish swimming around the Old Encounter Pond. The new system requires users to take a video selfie and upload a valid driver's license or passport.
Tinder has been around for a long time as part of its verification process, which would provide a blue checkmark to illustrate authenticity. Questions relating to passports and driving licenses are therefore new. Once you upload the ID, Tinder will check if it matches your selfie video and profile photos. They will also look at the date of birth on the license or passport to confirm your age.
If the idea of uploading your ID to a dating app gives you a gross feeling, you can always get verified with a simple video selfie. However, your profile will receive a blue camera icon badge, not a blue checkmark.
Tinder started testing this last year in New Zealand and Australia, and it must have worked very well given the wider rollout. The updated verification tool will be available in the UK and Brazil by spring, and in the US and Mexico by summer. In other words, the catfish only has a few months left to do its job. This includes you,
This is not to be confused with Tinder's recently discontinued background check feature, which was powered by the nonprofit Garbo. Tinder and Garbo partnered to provide a robust background check tool on the app in 2019, to check users' history of violence.
Garbo ended up Match Group, after disagreements over payments and the best use of the tool. Garbo's CEO said she would rather leave the partnership than allow “Garbo's vision to be compromised and relegated to the marketing agenda of big companies.”