Online Dating Sites and Background Checks

Contributed by: Editor on Monday, July 19 2010 @ 09:56 am

Last modified on

ABC News never really answered the question they posed in the title of this article[*1] called "Should Online Dating Sites Do Background Checks?". What they did tell us was some facts and left the answer for the reader to determine.

  • Singles can encounter convicted felons and sex offenders both online and off.
  • Not every background check is created equal and none are close to being 100% foolproof.
  • Felony databases are slow to be updated.
  • Dating Experts suggest having the option for background checks would be helpful.
  • True.con does background checks on every member. They compare member's information with what is found in convicted felon and sex offenders state databases. True rejects about 2 to 3 percent of members which compares with the national statistic of 3 percent of the population are convicted felons.
  • New Jersey has an Internet dating safety law which requires that dating sites provide members with safety notices and they must inform visitors if they don't conduct background checks on members.

The main problem I have with background checks is most "criminals" are not going to be posting their own information on a dating site, especially one that does background checks. They will just either make up the information or just use someone else's identity. This is more of a problem on free dating sites since there is no extra information (like a credit card) to help identify the person. Until we can easily determine who is typing at the computer or sites start requiring multiple pieces of identification for member accounts (which no one will want to supply), background checks will only be a small part of the puzzle for online safety.

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Dating Sites Reviews - Online Dating Sites and Background Checks
https://www.datingsitesreviews.com/article.php?story=Online-Dating-Sites-and-Background-Check

[*1] http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/online-dating-sites-background-checks/story?id=11063166