The Meet Group Adds Face Verification Feature
Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, October 09 2020 @ 12:27 pm
Last modified on Friday, October 09 2020 @ 12:28 pm
The Meet Group has announced that it has added a 3D face authentication-powered verification badge to its platforms. The new badge will use AI technology in authenticating that the account belongs to a real person.
The activation process begins when a user chooses the badge, prompting them to take a selfie in that moment. The AI software from FaceTec then scans and confirms the authenticity of the selfie to “confirm the user’s physical living presence, and perform age estimation” according to Mobile ID World[*1] . This is a strategy to prevent underage users and those who engage in catfishing with fake profiles from using the app.
Earlier this year, The Meet Group partnered with URSafe to provide security features to users across its suite of apps. This included location sharing with family and friends, hands-free alerts, and emergency calling, so that people could feel safer on dates. The company also introduced a Safer Dating Advisory Board to help navigate dating during a pandemic, and according to Mobile ID World, it also worked with Microsoft and Project Artemis to thwart child exploitation through social and dating apps.
The Meet Group CEO Geoff Cook disclosed that the company’s long-term plan is to expand FaceTec’s role beyond just face verification to full ID vetting through biometric profile picture matching, which means matching faces in comparison to a previous or second picture to identify its authenticity.
This does raise privacy issues among concerned users. Design World[*2] noted the ethical issues that arise from biometric profiling, including who will own the facial image data, how it will be shared among officials such as the police if required, and how it will be securely stored so it’s not vulnerable to hackers or malicious actors. The website also points out that this technology is severely lacking and even faulty among minority groups, because the data sets are not diverse. This means people could be improperly identified.
The Meet Group says that dating safety is its main priority, which is why it has rolled out several features that tackle this issue, not just facial verification.
“With the launch of the Profile Verification Badge on MeetMe, we are promoting authenticity with what we believe to be the most comprehensive verification solution in the dating industry,” said Cook. “Currently, the verification badge indicates liveness, but as the feature is adopted, we will also begin comparing the profile photo to the 3D Selfie that was used to confirm Liveness. This proves that the person in the profile photos is the one posting them – helping to ensure authenticity and end catfishing.”
Catfishing remains a pervasive problem in all online dating platforms, and Cook feels that this is a step towards stopping such abusive and predatory behavior.