Platforms must prioritize IDV as trust in dating, sharing and service apps wanes

Trua has found that the majority of Americans are concerned over the safety of their personal data across multiple online platforms.

The survey, commissioned by the digital trust credentials company, asked 2,000 adult Americans their thoughts towards trust, safety and transparency over a wide range of online platforms. These included rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft; home services apps like TaskRabbit and Care.com; job search platforms such as Indeed, LinkedIn and Monster; accommodation platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo; dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and Match.com; and financial apps such as PayPal, Venmo and SoFi.

The State of Trust and Safety in Online Marketplaces found that only 18 percent of Americans surveyed have “high confidence” that service providers are adequately vetted on popular apps like the ones listed above. Meanwhile, 60 percent are willing to pay extra for enhanced background checks of service providers.

“Online platforms must prioritize stronger security, data transparency and identity verification — or risk losing consumers,” Trua concluded. The survey also found that 86 percent of respondents were influenced by an online platform’s reputation for safety and security in their decision to use it. As cybersecurity concerns abound as well as the increased threat of GenAI, the survey found that 75 percent of consumers fear bots masquerading as humans on online platforms.

Fraud or scams (55 percent), identity theft or account hacking (43 percent) and payment security issues (36 percent) are the top concerns among consumers who use online platforms, the survey found. Only 41 percent feel confident about the protection of their financial data during online transactions.

“The message from consumers is unmistakable — trust, safety, and transparency now outweigh convenience in importance,” Raj Ananthanpillai, founder and CEO of Trua, said. “Today’s consumers expect more than just functionality; they demand a secure and accountable online experience,” he continued.

Trua recommended privacy-first identity verification as 78 percent of respondents back systems that verify identity without sharing personal information every time an interaction occurs with a service provider, either online or in person. “This survey serves as a crucial wake-up call for companies to reevaluate their strategies, placing trust and transparency at the core of their operations to meet the heightened expectations of today’s consumers,” Ananthanpillai said.

Safety concerns over dating apps rise

The Markup has co-published with The Guardian an 18-month investigation into how Tinder and Hinge, and their corporate owner Match Group, allegedly turns a blind eye to abusive users.

The investigation reports on women’s experiences with abusers and rapists encountered on dating app Hinge and how its owner Match Group apparently took little action after receiving reports of sexual assault. The report says that Match Group has “known for years” which users have been reported for “drugging, assaulting, or raping” their dates since at least 2016, according to internal company documents seen by the journalists. By 2022, the company’s central database was collecting “hundreds of troubling incidents” every week, according to company insiders.

The journalists also note that a transparency report Match Group promised to release in 2020 – a public document that would reveal data on harm occurring on and off its platforms – still has not been released. Furthermore, banned Tinder users can “easily” rejoin or move to another Match Group dating app, while keeping most of their personal information exactly the same, according to tests the investigation made.

In a statement, Match Group referred to technology it deployed to promote safety, such as ID verification for profiles, but the investigation showed that getting around Tinder bans and signing up for other dating platforms owned by Match Group was quite possible. Bumble, a dating app which is not owned by Match Group but was founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd shortly after she left Tinder, recently added biometric ID verification technology from Veriff.

The full investigation of Match Group can be read here.

In a report from Regula, sextortion is highlighted as the “most devastating” dating scam. Sextortion is when fraudsters use fake profiles to lure victims into sharing intimate content before threatening to expose the victim unless a ransom is paid. The FBI reported more than 12,000 complaints of sextortion in 2023 alone, resulting in millions in monetary losses, psychological trauma, and in some cases even death. Younger people and those new to online dating are especially vulnerable.

With cases surging, new technology has resulted in the use of deepfake videos or AI-enabled chatbots to manipulate victims. Regula notes that sextortion can proliferate in environments where fake profiles and anonymity allow bad actors to operate more freely. The company believes biometric checks can make it “significantly harder” for scammers to create fake accounts. Anti-spoofing technology can prevent impersonation by detecting fraudulent attempts to use photos or masks, while liveness detection can confirm if a real person is present, preventing deepfakes.

“When faced with strong verification measures, scammers don’t simply disappear — they move to less secure platforms where they can continue their schemes unchecked,” says Jan Stepnov, identity verification expert at Regula. “Standardizing biometric ID verification across multiple platforms would make it significantly harder for them to do so, creating a safer ecosystem across social media, dating apps, and other online services.”

The Regula blog has more on identity verification for online dating apps here.

Article Topics

digital identity  |  digital trust  |  identity verification  |  mobile app  |  Regula  |  Tinder  |  TruaID  |  Uber