Exclusive: Tinder to require Face Check for new users in California
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Face Check in action. Photo: Tinder
Tinder is mandating new users in California verify their profiles using facial recognition technology starting Monday, executives exclusively tell Axios.
Why it matters: The move aims to reduce impersonation and is part of Tinder parent Match Group's broader effort to improve trust and safety amid ongoing user frustration.
How it works: The Face Check feature prompts users to take a short video selfie during onboarding. The biometric face scan, powered by FaceTec, then confirms the person is real and present and whether their face matches their profile photos. 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. Tinder stores a non-reversible, encrypted face map to detect duplicate profiles in the future.
- Face Check is separate from Tinder's ID Check, which uses a government-issued ID to verify age and identity.
- "We see this as one part of a set of identity assurance options that are available to users," Match Group's head of trust and safety Yoel Roth says. "Face Check ... is really meant to be about confirming that this person is a real, live person and not a bot or a spoofed account."
Between the lines: Tinder and its competitors have added safety features in recent years to crack down on fake accounts.
- Tinder introduced photo verification via real-time selfies in 2020 and expanded ID verification in 2021, which is mandated in some markets like Japan.
- Bumble released ID verification earlier this year.
Zoom in: Tinder already launched Face Check in Colombia and Canada. Roth said the results were promising by reducing exposure to bad actors, decreasing bad actor reports and improving perceptions of authenticity.
- Roth said Tinder chose California as the next test market due to its size, demographics and strong online safety and privacy laws.
- Face Check is the latest in a series of improvements to Tinder's safety features like "Are You Sure?" and "Does This Bother You?" and new ones like "Share My Date," Roth said.
Zoom out: Dating app companies are under pressure to improve business performance after weak earnings.
- Match Group announced it's cutting 13% of staff last month after declines in revenue and paying users. Bumble said it will cut about 30% of its staff.
- Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff has positioned safety as a core business strategy. In his first earnings call back in February, he likened the investment to Google working to rid YouTube of illegal videos and Facebook removing fake accounts.
- "Even if in the short term, it has the effect of potentially reducing some top-line user metrics, we think it's the right thing to do for the business," Rascoff said.
What's next: Roth said Tinder will monitor user reactions to determine whether Face Check should roll out more broadly.
