Tinder Safety Feature Impacted as Background-Checking Tool Shuts Down

The safety feature aimed at Tinder users, provided through a background-checking tool employed by Match Group, is set to be discontinued. Garbo has maintained a partnership with the dating app conglomerate since 2019. Unfortunately, Garbo will be closing down its consumer tool at the end of August.

Shutting Down Services

Following a successful two-year collaboration that integrated background checks into various dating apps under the Match Group umbrella, digital-safety nonprofit Garbo announced its decision to discontinue its consumer tool by the close of August.

Wall Street Journal reported that this development coincides with changes in Match Group's leadership landscape, marked by the exit of its initial safety and social advocacy leader. This individual, who departed the company in the previous autumn, had been a prominent advocate for the Garbo partnership.

Attributing the choice to discontinue the background-check tool to conflicts with Match Group, its primary and most substantial consumer collaborator, Kathryn Kosmides, Garbo's CEO and founder, highlighted differing perspectives as the primary reason. Additionally, challenges in securing compensation from online platforms for Garbo's services played a role in this determination.

During the interview, Kosmides conveyed her perspective, underscoring how most tech companies often consider trust and safety as a PR tactic. She preferred that Garbo's focus shift towards other initiatives instead of allowing its core vision to be compromised and relegated to serving the marketing goals of major corporations.

Continuing to Enhance Safety

In response, a representative from Match Group shared their perspective with Engadget. They highlighted the company's substantial efforts in bolstering safety measures across their platforms in recent years, with a commitment to maintaining this trajectory.

From pioneering features such as 'Are you Sure?' and 'Does this bother you?' to the implementation of background checks, they emphasized the creation of unique tools and investments unmatched by other dating applications. Their dedication remains steadfast in consistently investing and developing features that empower users with greater insights and control over their connections on the platforms.

Indicating their ongoing efforts, the company implies that they are actively seeking a substitute collaborator to conduct violence history checks. The spokesperson expressed their disappointment regarding the inability to reach an accord, yet they conveyed optimism about their progress with alternative providers.

They assured that a fresh partnership is on the horizon, with advanced discussions underway and plans to unveil the new collaboration in the near future.

Spawning from Disagreements

Garbo's decision to suspend its tool was influenced by both disagreements with Match Group and challenges encountered while attempting to monetize its services on various platforms. The internal dynamics within Match Group's brands also played a role in shaping the situation.

Leaders within Tinder advocated for a distinct system wherein users would be encouraged to conduct background checks on themselves. This process would grant them a special badge on their profile, designed to engage users who might be hesitant to perform background checks (largely male users).

However, The Verge reported Garbo rejected this idea, with Kosmides explaining that it's not viable to categorize someone as 'good' or 'bad' through a selective identity verification process.