Hold onto your swipes, California singles! Tinder is spicing up its sign-up process with a bold new feature called “Face Check” for new users in the Golden State. This facial recognition tech, already making waves in Canada and Colombia, is designed to keep the dating scene real by ensuring you’re not matching with bots or imposters.
Here’s the scoop: during onboarding, new users must record a quick selfie video, which Tinder’s biometric system, powered by FaceTec, compares to their profile pics. Match confirmed? You’re in with a shiny verification badge on your profile. No match? Sorry, no swiping for you!
Why the face scan? Tinder’s parent company, Match Group, is on a mission to boost trust and safety, cracking down on fake accounts and serial catfishers. The company claims the feature has already reduced malicious user reports in Canada and Colombia, and California is the first U.S. state to test this anti-impersonation tool. But it’s not all smooth sailing—some users are raising eyebrows over privacy concerns, wondering how their biometric data is handled. Tinder says the selfie video is deleted after verification, though an encrypted face map is stored to spot duplicates.
The trial is exclusive to new users in California for now, with plans to expand if the feature gets a heart-eyes emoji from the community. So, get ready to flash a smile, Cali daters—your Tinder profile is about to get a whole lot more legit!
