New Tinder users in the UK will now need to scan their faces
If you're signing up for Tinder in the UK, you'll now need to undergo a facial scan.
Today, Tinder announces that it's launching the facial verification feature, Face Check, in the country. This follows Tinder requiring all new U.S. users to do the same as of Oct. 2025, following a test in California.
New Tinder users must now complete a facial scan in the U.S., Canada, Australia, India, and countries in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, according to Tinder.
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Users start by taking a video selfie on the app, and Tinder scans it to check if it matches their profile photos. If it's a match, users receive a Photo Verified badge. The feature can also apparently detect if a user has multiple accounts.
Tinder first launched photo verification in 2021 and video verification in 2023. Then, in 2024, Tinder began requiring ID checks if users wanted a verification checkmark.
Face Check comes at a time when identity verification is increasing in various spaces online, especially in the UK, given the Online Safety Act. The law requires age verification if a site or app hosts content that might be "restricted to adults." Days before the Online Safety Act went into effect in July 2025, major dating apps, including Tinder, announced that they'd install age checks.
Recently, dating apps have also been under increased scrutiny for multiple reasons, including the presence of scammers, which Face Check seeks to reduce. Sixty-three percent of 18-24-year-olds say scams are harder to spot than ever, according to an Aug. 2025 survey of 2,000 singles in the UK.
Internal Tinder data shows an over 60 percent decrease in exposure to "potential bad actors," including spam, scam, or fake profiles, and over 40 percent decrease in bad actor reports.
Dating apps have also been criticized for other safety reasons lately. In Dec. 2025, several women filed a lawsuit claiming that Match Group (which owns Tinder, Hinge, and other dating apps) allowed a serial rapist on its platforms.
In Feb., Mashable reported that Match Group's other offering, Hinge, is also planning to start testing compulsory facial scans.
Topics Tinder
Anna Iovine is the associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on Bluesky.
