Tinder is introducing ‘anti-catfishing’ tech - and a panic button for when your dates go wrong

These are the new safety features being rolled out by the dating app (Photo: Shutterstock)These are the new safety features being rolled out by the dating app (Photo: Shutterstock)
These are the new safety features being rolled out by the dating app (Photo: Shutterstock)

While dating apps are a useful way to meet people online, they can also come with hidden dangers - like when the person you’re talking to isn’t really the person in their pictures.

Dating app Tinder has announced that it is upping its safety features to include the likes of anti-catfishing technology - and a panic button to ensure the wellbeing of its users.

Anti-catfishing technology

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The app’s proposed photo verification tool is designed to make sure that all the users on Tinder are really the people in the photos they’re using.

The feature has users go through a process of replicating poses via selfie in real time, which are then compared to the existing profile photos using human assisted AI technology. Those who pass the test will be given a verified blue check mark that lets other users know that they are the real deal.

According to Tinder, the feature “is currently being tested in select markets and will continue to become more widely available throughout 2020”.

Panic button

The panic button tool will allow users to share details about their upcoming dates, including who they are meeting, as well as where and when. Users will also be able to “easily and discreetly trigger emergency services if they are feeling uneasy or in need of assistance”.

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The panic button feature comes from integration with safety app Noonlight which currently is not available in the UK.

Other features

Tinder is taking its new safety features very seriously, with a whole host of helpful tools.

The Safety Centre, which is described as “an evolving section of the app” will work to give users safety advice, including information such as online dating safety 101.

Another feature, Does This Bother You?, strives to identify whether an offensive message has been sent - when a Tinder user responds ‘yes’ to a Does This Bother You? prompt, they will have the option to report the sender.

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Similarly, there is another feature called Undo, which will ask Tinder users whether they’d like to take back a message which potentially contains offensive language before it is sent.

When will these features be available?

Tinder has stated that these features will initially roll out in the US from 28 January 2020, but has not yet confirmed when they will be available across the rest of the world.

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