The greatest fear of most dating app users is that their match won’t look like their photos, not that their match is a serial sexual assaulter. But according to a lengthy report, produced by BuzzFeed, Columbia Journalism Investigations and ProPublica, dating apps often allow sex offenders to sign up, sometimes repeatedly.
With the exception of Match, which screens paying users against sex offender registries, many of the larger, often free apps—including Match Group properties like Tinder, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish and Hinge—fail to screen, leaving the onus on customers to police for offenders. Many of those apps make these policies apparent upon signing up. For example, Tinder’s terms of use reads: “You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users. You understand that Tinder does not conduct criminal background checks on its users or otherwise inquire into the background of its users. Tinder makes no representations or warranties as to the conduct of users.” The result is an unknowable number of sex offenders on the app, including potential repeat rapists.
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