A woman sued Match.com after being raped by another user. The dating site announced it would screen members against the sex-offender registry within 2-3 months, but security expert Robert Siciliano warns the screening won't catch everyone and name-based checks have limits.
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Making sure your match isn't a predator. A popular dating site now screening its customers. The Fox 25 News at 10 starts right now.
You're watching Fox 25 News at 10. Looking for love, just not looking for trouble. A major dating website is about to change security procedures to keep people safe. Shannon's working on this story tonight. I think we all know someone who's found at least one date online. Shannon.
Yeah, Mark, it's true. And you know, those people, they're definitely not alone. An estimated 20 million people every month visit online dating sites, and as you might imagine, not all of them are good eggs. Well, now Match.com is going to start screening members against the sex offender list after a California woman filed a lawsuit against the site. A Los Angeles lawyer who says she met a guy on Match.com, went on a first date and then a second date, and then says this man followed her home and sexually assaulted her. Well, she did a little digging and says she found that the guy was a convicted sex offender. She's She's now suing, saying that Match should have been checking for this all along. Well, we talked to a security expert, Robert Siciliano, who says yes, on some level Match is responsible, but there's no absolute way for the website to make sure something like this never happens.
So Match screening for sex offenders is a step in the right direction. Uh, it is one layer of security that will vet out some of the less tech-savvy sex offenders. However, the members of the site cannot rely specifically on that fact that they are doing those scans because people lie.
And unfortunately, that's a very important part of this. The website can only check the sex offender registry against the name that somebody gives themself on the website. They're not doing full background checks here, so it's important for people to keep that in mind. Now, the outcome of this lawsuit is pending, but obviously Match has already agreed to what this woman said she wanted to happen. The sex offender screening should begin in 2 to 3 months.
Ah, it seems like a simple solution, so why haven't Match.com, other dating sites, done something about this before now?
Well, it's a good question. Match says it's a combination of improved technology and an improved data— database that now gives them sufficient degree of accuracy so that they can move forward with this kind of thing. But again, they and security experts warn that this could provide users with a false sense of security, really. So you really need to be as careful as you would be, say, meeting a stranger on the street or in a bar. This, by the way, a big talker. I asked on my Facebook page earlier if people think that the site is responsible for this, and I'm getting a ton of responses. David Harney tells me absolutely not. Keep them coming. I'm going to read more of them coming up at 11.
