New ‘Gatsby’ Dating App: No Criminals Allowed

Dating apps come in a multitude these days: for Pokemon Go fans, Trump supporters, colleagues and more – even those who prefer talking on the phone get their own one. The latest in this list is a dating app known as Gatsby which is available for iOS. The main aim of the app is to scan users to see if they have a criminal background. If you have ever been convicted, then you get blocked. Found Joseph Penora believes both men and women can be targeted for violent crimes when it comes to online dating.

According Penora, there are cases where criminals have used the likes of Tinder and other services to rob and deal in human trafficking. Penora wants to tackle these issues and build a secure platform with an algorithm that ensures that every on the database is safe when meeting.

The Gatsby Group Scanning Backgrounds

The Gatsby Group, which owns the app, is quite experienced when it comes to scanning backgrounds. The team created a Facebook tool in 2012 known as Friend Verifier and would scan the friends of users and friend requests to see if they were sex offenders. Criminal data gathered by the group comes from publicly available databases in cities, countries and various other governments across the world – as well as third parties. According to the CEO, all data is put into an algorithm which ensures that updating is easy and data can be quickly accessed.

While the idea is good (especially when it comes to making online dating safer), Gatsby itself seems to have a couple of problems: making a fake profile is very easy and “false positives” with those who share the same name could also occur. Some users may also be blocked for having committed only small crimes.

Double Checking Flagged Users

All flagged users, according to Penora, are being double-checked to ensure that they aren’t false positives. This could be difficult, however, especially if the team happens to be understaffed. They are ensuring that another layer of smart security is being developed to ensure that the process is better automated.

Source: Vocativ.com