Criminal checks

Overlawyered.com recently described a New Jersey bill which would require internet dating sites to post prominent notices regarding criminal background checks for their members. The sites are required to post in 12-point type whether or not they have done a background check on their users. If the site has run the criminal checks, they are then required to post numerous disclaimers that it doesn’t really mean anything because their background checks are seriously flawed. Either way, not meant to give a potential dater a warm and fuzzy feeling.

It is a little amusing to see how this is turning out, after knowing how it started. A few years ago, True.com acquired exclusive rights to technology to determine if members were single. They combined this with a criminal background check to promote their service as the best place to find an eligible partner. Having established this competitive differentiator — and paying quite a lot to do so — they decided that the best way to capitalize on it was to force other dating sites to show that they didn’t take as much care. True.com CEO Herb Vest began a personal crusade […]