The app's parent firm Match Group announced on
Wednesday it would begin offering access to Garbo, a new US online background
check platform that can show if someone has a history of violence.
After navigating to Garbo through the Tinder
app, users then enter the name, phone number or other details about a potential
date to check for arrests, convictions and sex offender registry information.
Dating apps, including Tinder, have been
pressured to take action after women have reported they were sexually assaulted
by men they connected with via the platforms.
"This is just the first step in
delivering on our mission to help proactively prevent harm in the digital
age," Garbo founder Kathryn Kosmides said in a statement.
Match said up to 500,000 free Garbo searches
would be made available, and thereafter a check would cost $2.50 plus a
processing fee.
Search results exclude certain offenses like
drug possession, loitering or vagrancy, and do not provide personal details
like home addresses and phone numbers, Garbo said.
The firm, in a blog post, said the service is
intended to prevent violence by offering information, but noted its
limitations.
"Most violent individuals never interact
with the criminal justice system and Garbo does not have access to all records
across the United States due to jurisdictional challenges," the post said.
Sexual violence researcher Nicole Bedera told
AFP sexual assault is frequently not reported to authorities, and documented
cases face barriers in the justice system.
"It's a very under prosecuted crime. And
even when cases do move through the criminal justice system -- regardless of
what country you're in -- you're going to see a low conviction rate," she
added.
Sarah Lageson, an associate professor at the
Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, pointed to the incompleteness of criminal
record information as well as their racial bias.
"Many white sexual predators do not have
a criminal record and many Black people have a misleading or unfair one,"
she noted.
Garbo, for its part, pointed to the reality
and risks of the current time.
"In today's digital age, we're connecting
with more strangers than ever before — yet we increasingly know less and less
about who we're meeting," the company noted.
"What if we could proactively prevent
some of the harm against ourselves and our communities?" it asked.