Tinder’s Parent Company Discontinuing Safety Feature for Users

The text verification tool used by Tinder’s parent company Match Group to provide a security feature to its users is shutting down.

Garbo, a non-profit organization that provided background checks to users of some of Match Group’s apps, is ending its partnership with the company, reports The Verge. The service will be closed on August 31.

It was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The integration allowed users to run a limited number of free background checks on a potential date using only their last name and phone number, where they saw public reports of violence, previous arrests, convictions and restraining orders.

While it’s unclear what went wrong between the two companies, Garbo appears to blame Match Group, according to the report.

In a post on Garbo’s blog, founder Kathryn Kosmides said she made the decision to shut down the service after facing “a lack of support and real initiative from online platforms” and “constant harassment and threats from bad actors on these platforms.”

In addition, the report mentioned that there were also internal conflicts regarding the functionality of the background check.

While Match Group wanted to display a badge on people’s Tinder profiles to show they had a clean criminal record, Kosmides disagreed.

“You can’t whitelist someone or give them a ‘good guy, bad’ identity. It has become clear that most online platforms are not legally committed to the trust and security of their users,” he added.

In May, Tinder announced changes to its existing community rules, telling it to remove social handles from public bios. As the company explained, Tinder is not a place to promote businesses that are trying to make money — members may not advertise, promote, or share social handles or links to gain followers, sell things, fundraise, or campaign.