Dating app Tinder has announced that it will be adding a panic button and other safety features to address "catfishing" or using a fake identity online.
Tinder will be integrating a panic button into the dating app, as well as other safety features to avoid catfishing. Among the new features to included were emergency assistance, location tracking, and photo verification.
The company will first introduce the new features in the US on January 28 and will later be offered globally, although it didn't specify a date for a global release. Tinder's parent company Match Group, which also owns PlentyOfFish, OkCupid and Hinge, plans to launch the features on its other dating platforms later this year.
To offer these new features, Match Group invested in Noonlight, a provider of online emergency response services and personal safety products. Noonlight's technology will enable users to alert emergency services and transmit highly accurate location data.
Before a meetup, users will be able to save information about the person and when the date is taking place and when they hit the panic button, emergency services will be alerted with the details, along with accurate location data.
Catfishing will also be avoided through the use of the app's new photo verification feature. It uses human-assisted artificial intelligence (AI) to check the authenticity of profile pictures uploaded to app. Users will be asked to verify their identity by taking several real-time selfies.
Match Group chief executive officer (CEO) Mandy Ginsberg claimed that it ill be the first dating company to invest in an emergency response service. Ginsberg said: "A safe and positive dating experience is crucial to our business."
"We've found cutting-edge technology in Noonlight that can deliver real-time emergency services - which doesn't exist on any other dating product," she added.
Match Group did not specify how much the investment it made in Noonlight.
