Tinder will soon require automatic face scans from U.S. users for all new accounts, a move designed to keep out people who don’t belong on the platform in the first place. Morin explained in an interview that the company’s “Face Check” system, which is already required for new California accounts, would expand across the country in the next few months before being put into force around the world.
The change represents Tinder’s most severe push away from the as-far-as-you-want-to-go-and-no-further identity “free love” revised since its earlier photo verification, video verification, and ID checks. Company executives cast the move as a safety upgrade meant to establish trust and prevent fraud while still allowing for fast onboarding among users in good standing.
What Will Change for New U.S. Signups Under Face Check
When new U.S. users register, they will be encouraged to record a short video selfie from within the app. Face Check analyzes that video against uploaded profile photos to establish a user is real, and identify if the same face shows up in multiple accounts. Successful verification prompts a Photo Verified green check icon to signal authenticity to other members.
Tinder says video selfies are erased soon after they are reviewed, but encrypted facial templates remain to validate prospective photos and catch any efforts at creating duplicate or fake profiles. The company prioritizes anti-spoofing and “liveness” checks that can make it harder for masks, still images, or deepfakes to sail through.
Why Tinder Is Requiring Face Scans for New U.S. Users
Early tests indicate the approach can budge the needle. Based on an internal study by Tinder, the time spent around bad actors — including spam, scams, or fake accounts — was reduced by more than 60 percent and user reporting around these bad actors decreased by over 40 percent following the rollout of Face Check. The company says those numbers are based on a weighted sample of in-app profile views, not an across-the-platform audit, but they hint at a promising direction.
There is also pressure beyond product metrics. Romance scams are one of the most financially lucrative cybercrimes, according to the Federal Trade Commission (annual losses in the United States topped $1 billion in recent years, with a median individual loss in the thousands). Lawmakers have pushed for stronger screening on dating apps, and consumer advocates demand stiffer verification of online profiles and faster enforcement against repeat offenders.
International policy trends add momentum. The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act and associated age assurance guidance are pushing big platforms to more rigorous identity and age checks. Age-verification requirements for some online services have been strengthened in the U.S. by some states. The specifics differ, but the trend is clear: Platforms are being pushed in the direction of verifying who is behind an account.
Privacy and Legal Hurdles for Tinder’s Face Check Rollout
Any biometric program navigates the delicate balance of safety and privacy risk. Other states, such as Illinois, have governed facial templates via biometric privacy laws that demand notice, consent, and provisions for strict deletion. In California and elsewhere, data-protection regimes also establish standards for minimization, purpose limitation, and deletion. According to Tinder, Face Check data is encrypted, videos are temporary, and stored templates fight fraud and verify new photos.
Accuracy and fairness matter, too. Tests by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology showed that more modern face-matching systems have gotten much better over the past few years, but how well an algorithm does on different demographic groups can vary widely. Civil liberties groups like the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the ACLU often call for platforms to release bias testing, retention periods, and independent audits so users can weigh risks.
How It Might Change the Dating App Experience
In addition to deterring scams, requiring selfie verification may also influence user behavior. User surveys and experiments on the platform suggest that members often have greater trust in or desire to interact with people who have a badge on their profile compared with those who do not. In countries where stricter identity checks for dating apps are already the norm — such as Japan’s long-standing age verification rules — it’s a glimpse of tighter account integrity allied to engagement friction.
That friction is the trade-off. Some people are uneasy at the idea of sharing biometric data, regardless of whether that is held as an encrypted template rather than a raw image. Others may stumble into false negatives or a situation in which they cannot get past a liveness check. To facilitate transitions, platforms usually offer guidance and retries and remediation paths; in some cases, they also limit basic functionality until users have verified themselves.
What to Watch Next as Tinder Expands Face Check in U.S.
New accounts on Tinder will be rolled out for U.S.-based users in the coming weeks, and expanded to other markets as new regulations are met. And the company plans to add Face Check to more of its sister apps in 2026. Observers will search for public reporting on false acceptance rates, demographic performance across population groups, and data retention windows, as well as how swiftly the system identifies duplicate accounts or coordinated fraud rings.
The stakes are high: reducing scams can significantly enhance user safety and trust, but the system’s credibility will rely on transparency and quantifiable results. If Tinder can demonstrate that Face Check significantly reduces abuse and safeguards biometrics, it could provide a model for the larger dating industry’s next era of verification.