Safety Measures Considered in Dating App Roundtable in Australia

Representatives from dating app companies alongside ministers, victim-survivors, government officials and technology companies attended a roundtable in Sydney to discuss safety measures needed for dating apps. They discussed adding background checks and ID verification requirements, as well as increasing transparency and sharing of data between dating app companies.

According to The Guardian, Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that “there’s no one law that’s going to fix this issue,” placing the burden of responsibility on dating app companies.

The talks were led by federal communications minister, Michelle Rowland and included representatives for popular dating apps such as Bumble and Tinder. She noted the talks were an “important first step,” according to The Guardian. The roundtable was convened after a report from the Australian Institute of Criminology found that three quarters of survey respondents had been subjected to sexual violence on dating apps in the last five years.

Grant said that no dating app met her safety standards and that dating app companies would be put on notice and face mandatory regulation if they did not make major improvements to correct this issue. 

While apps like Tinder have launched features like Face Verification and Background Checks to address these issues, as ABC Australia pointed out, there are privacy concerns surrounding ID verification. It could put people fleeing from abusive relationships at risk of being found, and cyber breaches could potentially expose the sensitive information of dating app users.

“None of us underestimate the complex issues around privacy, user safety, data collection, and management that are involved,” Grant told The Guardian.

She noted that many abusers do not have criminal records or convictions, and that background checks and verifications would only do so much. She added: “…that’s why a big focus of the discussion was also on what could be done to encourage respectful online interactions.”

Grant went on to highlight the responsibility of dating app companies, pressing them for further transparency about how many people were being abused over their apps. She also demanded more data sharing between companies, as well as collaboration on safety measures and plans for how to deal with users who are repeat offenders on different apps.

“If I don’t get total transparency, I have legal compulsion powers that I can use,” she told The Guardian.

Rowland emphasized the need for better reporting practices and handling, one major concern for dating app users in Australia. “We need industry to improve their action, their transparency and their accountability in how they respond to consumer complaints,” she said.