Big news in the world of online dating. Match.com has announced it would begin running members through a sex offender registry. The story began to unfold just over a week ago, around the time I interviewed the rape victim, then called Jane Doe, who was attacked by a sexual predator on Match.com. Today, Jane Doe announced she was Carole Markin on Good Morning America and the Today Show.
Last week Markin went on the record saying she was was threatening Match with legal action to force the worlds largest dating site to offer background checks.
I’ve always though that the dating industry needed to do more to keep its members safe, but I didn’t expect events to unfold so quickly. After all, the dating industry has been talking about/avoiding the topic of online safety for many years.
It turns out that Markin’s publicity efforts have indeed turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Her decisive efforts to bring online dating safety to the public eye were effective to a degree that surprised everyone.
But let’s not just look at Match. I’ve always said that five sites make the dating industry, 25 matter and the rest are smaller players targeting mostly interest and geographic niche markets. Worldwide, there are thousands of dating sites, some subscription-base, many free. The implications of the Match situation are reverberating throughout the rest of the industry and it will take some time to see how it reacts.
The safety category on this blog has many articles about online dating safety. You can get a real sense of how the dating industry has not wanted to address the issue head-on from a business standpoint. Of course the industry doesn’t want people harmed, but the business case and legal issues surrounding the issues have made it difficult to find a solution that works for everyone.
We have talked a lot about background checks like Rely ID at eHarmony, ID verification like Tru.ly that could be used on multiple sites, (Facebook LinkedIn, Angies List, Craigslist, etc). Running members through a sex offender screening process would most likely work behind the scenes. There would be no “verified member” badge and the problem of some people have the badge and other not and the ensuing customer service issues would be avoided. My problem is that the background check would only be valid on Match.com.
That’s why I like Tru.ly, which has created a persistent, portable identity credential that can be used on many websites. Its doesn’t offer background checks yet, but the service just launched and will evolve to offer other safety and even marketing-based features. This is very exciting to me, as I have worked with many identity providers over the years and its nice to see a company that Gets It.
Will Match’s efforts at making online dating safer be adopted by other dating sites? If Match is perceived as safer than other dating sites, that could have a huge impact on the rest of the industry. I for one think that background checks will be used as a powerful marketing tool. Why join a sketchy dating site when you can belong to Match and at least know they are making an effort to keep their members safer?
The media is jumping on the story big-time, Google news has scores of stories and television stations are scheduling lots of interviews.
Consumerist says:
In news that could set a precedent for online dating sites, Match.com announced over the weekend that it plans to begin screening users to see if they have a history of being sex offenders.
In the Wall Street Journal, Match mentions concerns over reliability factors of background check data. These concerns are right on the money. Background check companies will deny this, but these are the same companies than malign their competitors by saying their data isn’t fresh or offer nationwide coverage.
Interesting that Match responded by saying it was already planning on offering background checks in the next few months. How convenient.
Quote from Match:
We’ve been advised that a combination of improved technology and an improved database now enables a sufficient degree of accuracy to move forward with this initiative, despite its continued imperfection.
Competitors like eHarmony and True.com have offered background checks for many years and Match is blaming database technology as the reason they have been dragged their heels. Does that mean that a technology vendor is really to blame for the lack of safety checks at Match?
Of course not, but blaming technology, a good excuse for the general public, won’t fly around the industry.
An important point to consider is that Match is saying they will run members through a sex offender database. This is different from the usual talk about background checks and identity verification, which are usually opt-in scenarios with their own set of issues.
In some accounts, Match has expressed concerns about the validity of the data used to check up on members. This is an entirely valid issue. Background check vendors are always throwing each other under the bus with statements about each other’s data-sources. Last time I checked, no one company had have blanket coverage across the entire United States. Hopefully some background check data providers will chime in about the coverage issue. Match is rightfully concerned that singles, thinking everyone on a dating site is A Good Person, will be lulled into a false sense of security.
Even Carole Markin knows she could have been more careful on her date. Background checks are not a panacea for dating safety. Singles must remain vigilant, use their heads and trust their guts, regardless of the what a site may or may not do to keep them safe.
Several dating industry executives have written to voice concern about running members through offender databases. A few themes have arisen, such as how do you screen non-paying members? Will Match will only screen paid members, which is about 1.5 million out of 20 million profiles. And how will trial account be screened if only email address and username are collected?
Screens won’t be fool-proof. You could use a friend’s card to pay, or a stolen one. If only a small subset (those who subscribe) are screened, then you have possible confusion and a false sense of security.
One big questions is whether the Match solution will increase monthly subscription fees.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of the online dating industry responds.
We’ll have a lot more to say about online dating safety in coming days as the story continues to unfold. What do you think about Match offering background checks? Leave a comment.
