PhoneConfirm has announced the launch of its Phone Identity Verification (PIV) service for the online dating industry.
The dirty little secret in the dating industry is that many dating profiles are fake and the industry doesn’t want the issue to see the light of day. That and the fact that up to 30% of some dating sites members are married, but that is a story for another day. PhoneConfirm aims to bring the issue to the forefront by linking profiles to verified phone numbers during the signup process.
One of the reasons Myspace removed 200k profiles is because they were going to be outed on national television and decided a Chief Security Officer was needed. In their case, the press was driving the issue of security amongst the 60 million + teens and twentysomethings on the site.
PhoneConfirm may work for paid dating sites, it’s going to be an uphill battle for free sites, which often do not require identifying information past an email address. Sating site executives understand that it’s imperative to make the signup process as smooth and hiccup-free as possible, otherwise visitors don’t become members as often. Will the verification process be a welcome addition or a hassle which drives users away?
There are many ways to thwart phone verification systems. Throwaway phone numbers, anonymous calling services, Skype, etc. If anything, the service may bring peace of mind to online daters.
One thing seems clear, phone verification systems seem easier to implement and less expensive than background checks. I think I would rather know if someone was an axe murderer or pedophile as opposed feeling warm and fuzzy that they have a cell phone.
I definitely want to demo this and go through the entire process.
Technorati Tags: phoneconfirm
Related posts:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Strikes me as being really inconvenient. Perhaps a network of centralized services that pre-verify you, and then subsequently allow identity verification through a system such as OpenID or the like would be better. Verify once, and then subsequent authentication would be a simply username/password deal like we have now.
Will the verification process be a welcome addition or a hassle which drives
users away?
>>Phone confirmation is used successfully in web environments like local.Google.com and eBay and others to solve the hassle-factor vs. security issue. The process itself is extremely quick, non-intrusive and online dating /social networking companies are buying in. Phone confirmation doesn’t have the “creepy factor” of giving away credit card info or your SSN online. Try it yourself on the phoneconfirm.com demo site. Its painless. It is a quality vs. quantity reality that any identity confirmation will drive some users away who wish to stay completely anonymous and attract others knowing that profiles are verified. For online dating website owners it delivers a level of accountability online daters are demanding and the best online dating sites are stepping-up to address.
There are many ways to thwart phone verification systems. Throwaway phone
numbers, anonymous calling services, Skype, etc. If anything, the service
may bring peace of mind to online daters.
>>True, there will always be work-arounds. However, the majority of misrepresentation on online dating websites/social networking (myspace etc…) is due to “ease of bad behavior,” so to speak (as in its easy to repeatedly create profiles that say your 21 when in fact your 12 on myspace.com) Phone confirmation simply acts as a deterrent to a majority of these fake profilers, etc…. These phone “work arounds” are expensive and very time consuming. The scammers typically go somewhere else that is easier to target.
One thing seems clear, phone verification systems seem easier to implement
and less expensive than background checks. I think I would rather know if
someone was an axe murderer or pedophile as opposed feeling warm and fuzzy
that they have a cell phone.
>>Implementing the service IS very simple. As for axe murderers etc…This is a different story. (Although it would be possible to cross check online profiles confirmed phone numbers with known pedophile phone numbers….) For all anyone knows YOU could be an axe murderer :-) Obviously to verify background, companies need SSN and
other sensitive info and at significant cost. With phone confirm there is a deterrent, at a fraction of the cost, for all but the most determined axe murderers since at least with phone identity confirmation there is another layer of information that
uniquely identifies an ax…, err online user.
I definitely want to demo this and go through the entire process.
>>Demo is available on http://www.phoneconfirm.com. Give it a try and let us know what you think.