Tinder to require facial recognition scan for new California users

Starting this week, Tinder will require new users in California to verify their identity with a facial recognition scan called "Face Check," Axios reported.

Tinder's Face Check prompts users to take a video selfie when creating their profiles to ensure that their profile photos are authentic. The biometric scan is run by the software FaceTec. Once completed, users receive a photo-verified badge on their profiles.

Tinder will also use this to check if someone has multiple profiles, according to Axios, and the app will store an encrypted face map to detect duplicate profiles.

This builds off of the verification methods Tinder has introduced in the past, including photo verification in 2021 and video verification in 2023. Last year, Tinder started requiring an ID check if users wanted a verification badge on their profiles. In 2024, Tinder also launched Share My Date, a safety tool for users to share details of their matches with loved ones.

Face Check has already launched in Colombia and Canada, and Match Group's head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, told Axios California was chosen next due to the state's online privacy laws as well as the size and demographic of the market. (Match Group is the conglomerate that owns Tinder as well as Hinge, OkCupid, and many other dating apps.)

Safety on dating apps has been a growing concern in recent years, and one that apps like Tinder have responded to with more safety features. Bumble added its own Share Date option and ID verification in March, for example. Some users complain that dating apps are quick to ban people without explanation, while a report from February stated that Match Group didn't properly ban bad actors from its platforms, nor alert law enforcement.

While Face Check is currently only required for new California users, Roth told Axios that Tinder will monitor user reactions to determine whether to roll out the requirement to other markets.

Match Group CEO and new Tinder CEO Spencer Rascoff has several initiatives he's implementing as the new head. One of his new "product principles," as he shared on LinkedIn at the end of May, is "safety is fundamental."

"Our users deserve and expect as safe an environment as possible when meeting new people," he posted on LinkedIn. "It is a moral and business imperative to prioritize safety in every feature we design, policy we implement, and interaction we enable."

Mashable has reached out to Tinder for comment.