Intelius this week received much laughter during it’s DEMO demo of DateCheck, an application which tells you instantly with a quick background check whether you need to make an excuse and back out of a date as soon as you can. I talked with Melissa Korb at Intelius earlier this year about the service, which was nowhere near as feature rich as it appears to be now. Looks like they were busy over the summer.

Intelius is a company with access to staggering amounts of your personal information. Thanks to them, your next date is going to be able to look up all your dirty secrets before you even meet.

This is a good thing in many ways, but I’m concerned about the quality of a date check originating from an email address of phone number. In this day and age of anonymous calling and throwaway email addresses, this is not the kind of source information I would call reliable. And what happens if they are wrong? Can you sue a background check company if they screw up? Where does the accountability lie? Data is constantly shifting, being bought and sold, moved across systems and databases, and bits tend to rot after a while. It all comes down to the Terms of Service.

The companies that are successful know, acknowledge and prepare for this. Unfortunately, many don’t do a good enough job at verifying data, and consumers have no idea what to think, let alone dating sites. Selecting background check providers has been very difficult for dating sites. Few understand the entire process, who has access to the good data, and many other factors which should be addressed when doing due diligence on providers. Most dating sites argue over the price instead, which, while important, is not the key issue when selecting a background check provider.

Intelius features are all branded and look to be available as a bundle or separately.

With features like Sleaze Detector, Compatibility, Net Worth, Interests and Living Situation you can be in the know on the go. “Look up before you hook up.”

Compatibility focuses on the person’s astrological compatibility with you; “net worth,” including the size of the person’s home and how many bedrooms it has; “interests,” and “living situation,” like whether or not the person already has a spouse or is living with his or her parents.

You can tell if someone lied about their real name or age, or if they have a DUI on their record. If you want more than summary information, you have to pay to get a specific report.

Frankly, I am somewhat surprised at the reaction they received at DEMO given that there are many companies focused on the online dating industry who have offered background checks for several years, like BackgroundChecks (powers eHarmony ID verification) and HonestyOnline, albeit without the astrological compatibility.

I wonder who Intelius licensed the astrological compatibility data from and how useful it is? That’s actually a feature I find intriguing. Dating sites haven’t warmed up to astro-matching. Maybe consumers will get it from a bundled third-party service like Intelius instead.

Tech Crunch goes to town on Intelius in this March 2009 post talking about alleged scams and a torrent of bad publicity and Better Business Bureau Complaints. In a word, ouch. This is the kind of reputation wound that is going to require some explaining if Intelius expects to partner with dating sites.

Identity verification is one thing, a full-bore background check is another. Dating sites barely recognize the value of ID verification and none have embraced complete user-initiated background checks. I think dating sites are going to have a hard time with this.

Date Check is at it’s core a direct-to-consumer marketing play, which is expensive and the privacy issues are so thorny it makes my head spin, let alone the stigma of being checked – you never know if someone performs a Date Check on you.

I’m all for doing whatever is possible to keep singles safe online and hope the online dating industry will start offering more safety services. They’ve heard the pitch for years and nobody is integrating. When will the tide turn and dating sites will realize that consumers will buy services that make them safe and more efficient? What’s it going to take?

Vist Intelius Mobile for more information on Date Check. iPhone, Blackberry and Android applications are coming soon.

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The first Senior Engineer at Facebook has launched a background check service on, you guessed it, Facebook.

TrueScoop, an Arbor Venture’s product, today announced the release of a new Facebook application which searches through over 20 million records and a million photos for personal and criminal history of anyone, completely free of charge…. This service, which can normally cost upwards to $40 per search, is done completely free and confidentially.

How can a company give away a $40 background check for free? I’m having trouble getting the app to work, will post screenshots once it figures out who I am.

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The FBI is expected to announce this week the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to develop the largest and most comprehensive government biometrics database in history — with information on the palm prints, eye scans, tattoos, and other identifying physical data of citizens and those who pass through. Via BoingBoing.

I wonder if they will share their data with background check companies?

While hanging out with my friend Carlos, a brilliant medical researcher and brain surgeon, we started talking about scientific matching. He sent over this link to the Economist article, The scent of a woman (and a man), which gives a good overview of ScientificMatch, which I see has a new site up.

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Recently I spoke with Mark Erza of Honesty Online, which is trying to bring trust, accountability and safety to online dating.

At first glance, Honesty Online looks similar to other background check companies which have been vying for a slice of the online dating market for several years now.

Mark took me through the process of getting credentialed on a demo system, which resulted in some problems but overall I was impressed with the process.

The core differentiator between background checks services is the experience of using the system, the portability of the credential and the price. Every background check provider says they have the best data. HO is no different, they get their data from the same places as the competition.

There are gaping holes in coverage across the US, and forget about Europe. In short, these solutions are suitable as a first line of defense, but I am concerned about the false sense of security that online daters might feel as they browse “certified” members on their favorite dating sites.

The missing information is reputation. Reputation magement has not taken hold of the online industry as of yet, a few scattered sites but no single repository of reputation data.

There are many background check companies vying to do business in the dating and social networking market. It seems as though Backgroundchecks.com and Honesty Online are in position to sew up these markets between themselves. Both have deals coming together with our favorite dating and social sites and I’m looking forward to being certified (crazy or sane, I want that icon that shows people I’m the real deal.)

In order to try and find out who I really am, Honesty Online quizzed me about zip codes and addresses that I had back in college. It’s fascinating to see this information dredged up from some digital abyss, I started going down memory lane in the middle of the demo, trying to remember the names of friends that used to live in my building in Brooklyn.

The quiz adapts to your responses, if you get a question wrong, it will ask you other questions. Credentials are good for one year, which seems to be an industry standard.

Honesty Online will make additional revenue on the velvet rope upsell- requiring matching credentials to see other people, more thorough checks, etc. If they add a reputation system, I can’t see why dating sites wouldn’t use the service.

I mentioned that Honesty Online powers the Mate1 background check system a few months back.

I’ve thought of doing a shootout between various background check companies, is this something you would like to see here?

If your site uses HO, or you have something to say about background checks, leave a comment and let’s keep the discussion  going.

Related posts:

1. Honesty Online Identity Verification Services
2. Honesty Online Offers FastLife Speed Dating Identity Verification
3. Honesty Online Partners with DatingHeadshots

Since people aren’t always upfront about their past, having access to information is critical in making the right decisions. Backgroundchecks brings billions of records right to your fingertips. Whether it’s criminal history reports, sex offender searches, or anything in between, we’ve got your background checks covered.

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Baihe.Com, a leading Chinese match making portal, will screen its eight million online daters against an “ID authentication system�. The new system was jointly developed by the website and the ministry of public security. The system will check the age, marital status and other personal details of prospective cyber daters against an official database to prevent deception.

Lie about your age, weight and height and you may end up in jail. Sounds like just the sort of dating site I’d like to belong to.

GSR Ventures and Mayfield Fund jointly invested $2 million in Baihe.com–which means “Lily” in English–in late 2005.
The service has over 6.5 million members, and in December began charging $255 for its high-end “Golden” service, with the promise of a “stable love relationship” within six months for most users.

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1. China’s Dating Market Continues to Grow
2. Largest Dating Site in China Goes Public
3. Towards a more efficient ranking system for dating sites

Greetings Washington Post readers. Google News lists a weekend op-ed piece titled, “The Disastrous Effects of Match.Com and What Women Can Do About It.â€? I was quoted in another weekend Wash Post article, Dinner, Movie and a Background Check(reg req’d).

DontDateHimGirl is mentioned as being sued for defamation of character based on people leaving negative feedback on people they have dated and reported on the site.
Why is it called that? What about all of the treacherous women out there? I like the women’s t-shirts that says Don’t Date Him Girl. I bet they will sell a lot of those. Funny how they advertise True predominantly.

A question to ponder. How is complaining about an appliance on Epinions different that warning people that your last date was a convicted felon or simply a gold digger?
As much as I see the value of third-party reporting sites launching if dating sites aren’t going to take the initiative, I can’t see sites like this staying operational for long without clear legal guidelines in place to drive the functionality of the site. The legal fees are going to crush them over time. Too many problems with self-reporting, perceptions and personal issues.

If she doesn’t put out on third date, is she an ice queen? If he doesn’t answer his cell phone during dinner hours, is he married? There are too many points of interpretation for many of these sites to be considered valuable in their current incarnation. Any system that can be foiled by changing usernames in 20 seconds has a certain amount of functionality that needs to be integrated before it can be truly considered useful. DDHG uses the person’s first and last name. There are 26 David Evans in MA, I can’t imagine how bad it would be to be to get mixed up with them.

My new Match friend Sara and I are working at her place today. She just walked by and saw the DDHG site and casually said, “you’re not on there, I checked.â€? She also admitted a general Google search of my name before out first date. I’ve got nothing to hide, but that still gave me goosebumps to think of her red-lighting me after mistaking me with the other Dave Evans, you know, the Duke lacrosse player?

Poor Scott Sparr of Council Blufffs, IA. DDHG says he’s extremely temperamental and abuses himself when he’s not cheating. How can he fight this? There are conversations between people suing or being sued in the DDHG Forums.

I would like to see a 1-10 rating system or at least a keywords field with common terms like cheating, abusive or even cheap. If you’re going to create the site, at least make the search engine work like it should and get additional dimensions of data on people. Reading painful rants from recently hurt women which often expose their own character flaws in addition to the supposed flaws of their dates may be fun to read for some, but useful? Not quite.

I can’t believe I didn’t have to sign in to view the negative testimonials. Troubling, this information should be at least behind a signup shield. Why should I be able to browse people as an unannounced visitor. Wait, thousands of people read the reviews every day, many of them just for kicks. Signing = less visitors = less ad revenue. Remember, nobody is doing these sites for love, it’s all about profit.

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A new year, and like clockwork a whole slew of unintelligible press releases right before iDate. This one is a real winner. Go take some aspirin before reading any further.

Did You, Inc. Releases an All New Social Networking Website Called DidYouDate.com Which is Creating Controversy Over Extra-Martial Affairs.

Did You, Inc., a New York Corporation since 2005, is set to launch the website DidYouDate.com, and enter into the business of online social networking, particularly with an interest in the area of online dating, online advertising and interoperability (also known as chat). The company is being designed from the ground up as a profit driven organization. It offers a compelling value proposition for its customers, a groundbreaking online promotional tool and a high return for customers on their investment in their product. It will offer a number of features that are unique to, and will enhance the experience of, the entire global market of online dating.

Guess who’s writing their press releases in-house? Talk about confusing, “enter into the business of online social networking, particularly with an interest in the area of online dating, online advertising and interoperability (also known as chat).�?

Why not call it chat? “The company is being designed from the ground up as a profit driven organization.�? Great news, as opposed to what?

As for the rest of the opening paragraph, I have no idea what the hell the company does. So I dig deeper:

DidYouDate, Inc. is in the business of supplying a search tool with the ability to access the historical dating records of anyone who has a profile somewhere online, or will soon have one.

They know I may join a dating site in the future? That’s some hot AI, where do I invest?

DidYouDate.com will generate empirical data received from its applicant’s use of the software, it has the ability to crawl and capture people’s profiles from a virtually limitless supply of existing dating, networking, personal ads, and white page listing websites.

Can you say “violation of terms of service?�?

Rather than searching for people and profiles on countless dating sites trying to dig up information about a cheating sex partner or ex husband or wife, a subscriber to DidYouDate.com will have access to these dating archives at the click of a button, by logging into one site.

Is this cheaper or more effective than paying a gumshoe for a days work?

The feature, named “6 Degrees,�? (i.e. “6 degrees of separation�?) will allow users to choose a dater and view all of the dater’s past, present and possible future relationships and the nature of those relationships.

Ow, my head hurts reading this stuff.

DidYouDate.com will utilize heavy graphical images provided by Gigapixel Creative to add a creative twist to relationship identification.

Make it stop!

DidYouDate.com’s technology will provide subscribers to online dating services the ability to chat with one another across a single platform. A person logged on to DidYouDate.com will be able to connect to any one who is logged on to any of the dating services that DidYouDate.com has enabled interop services. For instance, if there are 200,000 people logged into DidYouDate.com and 300,000 in to Myspace.com or Youtube and 1,000,000 into Yahoopersonals.com, then the DID YOU IM INTEROP TM. tool would have a total of 1,500,000 potential users that could possibly Instant Message each other simultaneously.

This site is DOA. A true Seinfeld of a press release. Get out your tinfoil beanies.

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First it was To Catch A Predator. Now, New York Democrat Charles E. Schumer and Arizona Republican John McCain say they planned to introduce a bill at the beginning of the 110th Congress in January that would require registered sex offenders to submit their active email addresses to law enforcement.

Last week, MySpace said it would offer in the next 30 days a technology to identify and block convicted sex offenders from the popular online social network. Myspace struck a deal with Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., to build the new feature.

There are 550,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, tracked from 46 state sex offender registries. What about the other four states?

Related posts:

1. 29,000 Sex Offenders on Myspace
2. To Catch a Myspace Predator
3. Myspace Cleans up Its Act