Facial recognition service says it is for suspicious lovers, not stalking

Are you spending Valentine’s Day paranoid that your partner is cheating on you with the help of dating apps? A new online service can help you track down their Tinder, Hinge or Bumble profiles with facial recognition. There is scant assurance, however, that it will not be abused.

OopsBusted advertises itself as a service that continuously scans popular dating apps to monitor your partner’s presence. The service allows users to enter the name and location of the person they are looking for and receive a detailed report on their dating profiles, including profile images and text. Customizable search parameters such as age, interests and more can help narrow the search.

Those who are in constant fear of infidelity can enroll in a paid service that sends a notification as soon as their target creates a new dating profile, the company explains in a release.

Tech-savvy dating app users have been using reverse image searches to check potential matches with the help of services such as Google Reverse Image Search and facial recognition search service PimEyes. But the spread of powerful image search engines has also raised privacy concerns.

And while those who have been burnt in relationships may welcome the facial recognition services that put their minds at ease, the same tools may also become a new favorite among stalkers and other malicious users.

On its website, OopsBusted explains that user data remains encrypted and confidential and that the service operates within legal boundaries. However, the company also advises users to use the services “responsibly and ethically,” echoing a previous plea from the owner of PimEyes.

OopsBusted’s terms and conditions explicitly recognize the risk of its use by stalkers. But the site does not confirm the identity of people performing searches, meaning that even previously-convicted stalkers could use it in violation of the terms of service.

“We created OopsBusted to empower people with definitive proof when suspicions arise about their partner’s loyalty,” says Ben Moataz, founder and CEO of OopsBusted. “By leveraging state-of-the-art facial recognition, our algorithms can conclusively identify dating app profiles belonging to someone’s spouse or partner, bringing peace of mind through definitive answers.”

“We aim for OopsBusted to promote trust and reduce doubts that erode the foundation of any healthy relationship,” says Moataz.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  data privacy  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  monitoring  |  OopsBusted  |  PimEyes