You may soon need a government ID to get a date on Tinder – morningtidings

Popular dating app Tinder has announced that it will enable its ID Verification feature to all the members around the world“in the coming quarters.” In a statement, Tinder said that it takes into account recommendations from experts to determine “what documents are most appropriate in each country, and local laws and regulations.”
“The product will begin as voluntary, except where mandated by law, and based on the inputs received will evolve to ensure an equitable, inclusive and privacy-friendly approach to ID Verification,” said the company.
How will the Tinder ID Verification feature work?
Tinder will require users to upload government or other official ID to confirm their identity. According to the company, the idea behind this is that it wants to make its members safe and give them more confidence that their matches are authentic by giving them more control over who they interact with.
There is no word about how the feature will be rolled out in India and by when.
First offered in Japan
The Tinder ID Verification feature was first rolled out in Japan back in 2019, where the company wants to identify that its users are at least 18 years old. In that country, Tinder allows its users to upload driver’s license, passport or Health ID to verify their identity.
In Japan, the company says that it retains a user’s ID, or information about their ID for up to 90 days following age verification for “quality assurance purposes.”
Recently, Tinder rolled out a feature that allows members to block personal contacts from the phone book in the app.
The block contacts feature allows a user to input which of their contacts they’d rather not see, or not be seen by, on Tinder. The app said that whether those contacts are already on Tinder or download it later using the same contact information, they won’t appear as a potential match.