Online Dating Just Got A Little Bit Safer

"Safety" is the word on everyone's lips when it comes to online dating. Countless news articles tell the tales of online daters scammed out of money, solicited for green cards, or sexually assaulted. It's enough to make you shudder at just the thought of joining an online dating site.

The complaint for a long time has been that no one is doing anything about it. The government, the dating sites...no one was making an effort to protect online daters from becoming victims except the daters themselves. Now, however, things are starting to change.

The California attorney general's office has announced that three online dating giants have agreed to screen for sex offenders, and enact other safety precautions, after a woman was assaulted on a date. "Consumers should be able to use websites without the fear of being scammed or targeted," Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said in a statement, and it looks like Match.com, eHarmony, and Sparks Networks agree.

The three dating sites have signed a joint statement of business principles that they hope will guard their members against sexual predators, identity theft, and financial scams, and set a positive example for the rest of the industry.

The dating services agreed to provide the attorney general's office with reports of suspected criminal activity, to check subscribers against national sex registries, to supply members with online safety tips, and to provide an easy way for users to report abuses.

Although the statement is nonbinding and carries no enforcement penalties, it does hold dating sites accountable for their members' safety. "They can't be sued for not following this, but it puts them in the public eye," said Lynda Gledhill, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

The statement was prompted by the sexual assault of a woman in LA by a man she met through a popular dating site in 2010. The man pleaded no contest to sexual battery by restraint and was sentenced to a year in jail. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

The woman went on to sue this dating site and sought a court order that would require the website to check applicants' backgrounds to prevent convicted sex offenders from joining, but she dropped the suit when the site provided proof that such screening already existed.

In the new statement, Match, eHarmony, and Sparks Networks reaffirm their commitment to the safety of their members, saying it's a priority and that they hope the statement will encourage other companies to adopt similar policies.