Latest news with #YoelRoth
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Tinder rolls out mandatory face verification for California users
West Hollywood-based Tinder is now requiring facial recognition scans for all users in California as part of its efforts to build trust among users and reduce the prevalence of scams and fraud that plague dating apps. The feature, called Face Check, prompts users to take a short video selfie that is used to verify their identity. The verification data allows Tinder, owned by Match Group, to check whether a person's face matches their uploaded photos. The scan is also used to check other photos on the app to detect if a user is impersonating someone else or operating duplicate accounts. The technology is from a company called FaceTec. Users' verification data will be stored for the lifetime of their Tinder account and deleted within 30 days of account closure. "As part of our continued efforts, we are always testing ways to deliver the best experience for our users to seek authentic connections," a Tinder spokesperson said. While Tinder already offers photo and ID verification features, they are optional. Face Check will be mandatory in some places in hopes of stopping bad actors and bots who rarely opt into voluntary verification measures. The new function is "about confirming that this person is a real, live person and not a bot or a spoofed account," said Yoel Roth, Match Group's vice president of trust and safety. Tinder has been adding safety features to help users feel more comfortable on the app, including "Are You Sure?" and "Does This Bother You?" prompts that pop up to police potentially unwelcome interactions, as well as newer additions like Share My Date. The timing of this pilot program comes as romance scams become more prevalent across the United States. Romance scammers typically create fake profiles on dating platforms or contact victims through social media platforms. They build relationships over time through frequent communication before fabricating emergencies and requesting money from their targets. With over 60 million Americans using online dating services in 2023, the stakes are significant. The Federal Trade Commission reported that romance scams cost victims more than $1.1 billion, highlighting the scale of the problem. Congressional action is also underway to address these concerns. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the Romance Scam Prevention Act on June 23, which would require dating apps to notify users when they have interacted with someone removed from the platform for fraudulent activity. Face Check is already being used in Canada and Colombia. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Tinder rolls out mandatory face verification for California users
West Hollywood-based Tinder is now requiring facial recognition scans for all users in California as part of its efforts to build trust among users and reduce the prevalence of scams and fraud that plague dating apps. The feature, called Face Check, prompts users to take a short video selfie that is used to verify their identity. The verification data allows Tinder, owned by Match Group, to check whether a person's face matches their uploaded photos. The scan is also used to check other photos on the app to detect if a user is impersonating someone else or operating duplicate accounts. The technology is from a company called FaceTec. Users' verification data will be stored for the lifetime of their Tinder account and deleted within 30 days of account closure. 'As part of our continued efforts, we are always testing ways to deliver the best experience for our users to seek authentic connections,' a Tinder spokesperson said. While Tinder already offers photo and ID verification features, they are optional. Face Check will be mandatory in some places in hopes of stopping bad actors and bots who rarely opt into voluntary verification measures. The new function is 'about confirming that this person is a real, live person and not a bot or a spoofed account,' said Yoel Roth, Match Group's vice president of trust and safety. Tinder has been adding safety features to help users feel more comfortable on the app, including 'Are You Sure?' and 'Does This Bother You?' prompts that pop up to police potentially unwelcome interactions, as well as newer additions like Share My Date. The timing of this pilot program comes as romance scams become more prevalent across the United States. Romance scammers typically create fake profiles on dating platforms or contact victims through social media platforms. They build relationships over time through frequent communication before fabricating emergencies and requesting money from their targets. With over 60 million Americans using online dating services in 2023, the stakes are significant. The Federal Trade Commission reported that romance scams cost victims more than $1.1 billion, highlighting the scale of the problem. Congressional action is also underway to address these concerns. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the Romance Scam Prevention Act on June 23, which would require dating apps to notify users when they have interacted with someone removed from the platform for fraudulent activity. Face Check is already being used in Canada and Colombia.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Tinder is testing facial recognition for users as a new security feature
Tinder is piloting a new featuring using facial recognition scans to verify profiles and increase security. New users in California will now be mandated to take a video selfie during the app's onboarding process which Tinder will compare against the user's other photos to verify their profile is genuine. The app will also check the scan against faces used on other accounts and provide verified profiles with a special badge. Tinder will store a non-reversible, encrypted face map to detect duplications, according to Axios, which reported on the new feature. "We see this as one part of a set of identity assurance options that are available to users," Yoel Roth, head of trust and safety at Tinder's parent company Match Group, told the outlet. "Face Check ... is really meant to be about confirming that this person is a real, live person and not a bot or a spoofed account." The feature is already in use in Colombia and Canada, and California will be its first U.S. pilot market. The stored facial data is deleted once a user deletes their profile, Tinder claims. Computer and app users have long attempted to use fraudulent identities on public profiles, for purposes ranging from financial 'romance scams' to full-blown, in-depth attempts at pretending to be someone else, a practice known as 'catfishing.' U.S. Justice Department and FBI officials told CBS News in 2024 that there were more than 64,000 romance scams in the U.S. the previous year. The practice is common enough that it inspired a hit Netflix documentary about the 'Tinder Swindler,' who is accused of using dating apps to swindle matches out of millions. Tinder and its competitors have previously added features such as identification verification, real-time photo verification, and location-sharing to prevent safety issues.
The Verge
2 days ago
- The Verge
Tinder's mandatory facial recognition check comes to the US
Tinder is trialing mandatory facial recognition security features in the US to verify profiles and crack down on impersonation and fake accounts. New users in California are now required to provide a biometric 'Face Check' scan to confirm their face matches their profile photos for the dating service, Axios reported on Monday. The Face Check feature involves taking a short video selfie that's used to match biometric indicators and prove that the Tinder user isn't a bot using artificially generated images, providing them with a verified badge upon completion. The scan will also check if the user's face is being used in multiple accounts, which could help to prevent users from being impersonated or having their likeness used by deceptive 'catfish' profiles. Face Check is separate from Tinder's ID Check feature, which uses government-issued ID to verify users' age and identity, while Face Check seemingly only requires users to upload a selfie video. Tinder users have provided video selfies to verify their profiles since 2023, but verification wasn't a mandatory requirement for creating a Tinder account. This change means that Californians will have to complete some version of verification if they want to use the platform at all. 'We see this as one part of a set of identity assurance options that are available to users,' Match Group's head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, told Axios. 'Face Check ... is really meant to be about confirming that this person is a real, live person and not a bot or a spoofed account.' Tinder says the selfie video is deleted once verification is complete, but that the platform stores a 'non-reversible, encrypted face map' to detect duplicate user accounts in the future. The Face Check feature has already been piloted in Colombia and Canada, with Roth telling Axios that those tests showed 'promising' results in 'improving perceptions of authenticity' and reducing reports of bad actors. Tinder will now monitor how users in California respond to the Face Check feature before deciding if it should be rolled out more broadly across the US, according to Roth.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Tinder is testing facial recognition for users as a new security feature
Tinder is piloting a new featuring using facial recognition scans to verify profiles and increase security. New users in California will now be mandated to take a video selfie during the app's onboarding process which Tinder will compare against the user's other photos to verify their profile is genuine. The app will also check the scan against faces used on other accounts and provide verified profiles with a special badge. Tinder will store a non-reversible, encrypted face map to detect duplications, according to Axios, which reported on the new feature. "We see this as one part of a set of identity assurance options that are available to users," Yoel Roth, head of trust and safety at Tinder's parent company Match Group, told the outlet. "Face Check ... is really meant to be about confirming that this person is a real, live person and not a bot or a spoofed account." The feature is already in use in Colombia and Canada, and California will be its first U.S. pilot market. The stored facial data is deleted once a user deletes their profile, Tinder claims. Computer and app users have long attempted to use fraudulent identities on public profiles, for purposes ranging from financial 'romance scams' to full-blown, in-depth attempts at pretending to be someone else, a practice known as 'catfishing.' U.S. Justice Department and FBI officials told CBS News in 2024 that there were more than 64,000 romance scams in the U.S. the previous year. The practice is common enough that it inspired a hit Netflix documentary about the 'Tinder Swindler,' who is accused of using dating apps to swindle matches out of millions. Tinder and its competitors have previously added features such as identification verification, real-time photo verification, and location-sharing to prevent safety issues.
