No. Tinder's Terms of Use say it does not conduct criminal background or identity verification checks on its users. It makes no claims about anyone's identity, conduct, health, intentions or honesty. It does keep the right to run background checks or sex offender register searches using public records whenever it chooses, but it says those tools are no promise of your safety.

What the Terms actually say

The wording in Tinder's Terms of Use is blunt. Tinder does not check its users' criminal records, and it does not run identity verification checks on them. It makes no representations about how anyone will behave, what they want, or whether what they tell you is true.

That is not Tinder being careless. It is Tinder being honest about what an app can do. An app that anyone can join cannot vouch for everyone who joins it.

So treat every match as a stranger until you have a reason not to. That is not paranoia. It is simply accurate.

The right Tinder keeps for itself

The same Terms say Tinder may run background checks or sex offender register searches at any time, using public records that are available to it.

Read that carefully. It is a right Tinder keeps, not a check it promises to run on every account. And Tinder says plainly that those tools do not ensure your safety. A search of public records can only find what is in the public record.

Screen with a call before you meet

The most useful check is one you run yourself, and it costs nothing: a short phone or video call before the first date.

A few minutes of talking tells you a great deal. You hear whether she sounds like the woman in the chat. On video you see whether she looks like her photos. And you get a feel for whether she is someone you want to spend an evening with at all. Plenty of men skip this and discover on the date that the chat was better company than the person.

Suggest it simply: "Want to do a quick call this week before we grab a drink?" If she is interested, that is an easy yes. If she dodges it every time you ask, that tells you something too.

Keep the call short and light. Ten minutes is plenty. Talk about her week, something from her photos, the place you might go. It is not an interview, and it should not feel like a vetting process. If it feels easy, set the date before you hang up. If something feels off, you have lost ten minutes instead of an evening.

Make the first date easy to leave

Choose a first date that protects both of you. Pick a busy public place, a drink or a coffee rather than a long dinner, and somewhere close enough that neither of you travels far. Tell a friend where you are going and roughly when you expect to be home.

Do not drive two hours to meet someone you have never spoken to. If you are unsure about her, keep the date near you and keep it short. If it goes well, you can always extend it. If it does not, stay polite for a few minutes and head home.

Get yourself there and back on your own terms, too. Your own car, a train you know, or a ride you booked yourself means you can leave whenever you want. And keep the first date away from your home. Inviting a woman you have never met back to your place, or going to hers, is a step for when you actually know each other.

Be careful, not closed off

None of this is a reason to treat every woman as a threat. Be careful when you meet strangers, but not so careful that you never meet anyone.

A man who interrogates his match before the date comes across as suspicious and a little odd. One call, a public place and a friend who knows where you are cover almost everything a first date needs. After that, relax and enjoy the evening.

She is checking you too

Women usually take more precautions than men before a first date, because they usually face more physical risk from a stranger. She may look you up before she agrees to meet.

So make yourself easy to trust:

  • Use recent photos that look like you. The man who walks in should be the man in the pictures.
  • Say true things about your life. Your job, your age and your neighborhood should all check out.
  • Offer the call yourself. Suggesting it first tells her you have nothing to hide.
  • Pick the safe venue without being asked. A busy, well-lit place at a reasonable hour.

Tinder will not vouch for you, any more than it vouches for her. A man who is exactly who he said he was, meeting in a public place at a sensible hour, is the one women feel comfortable seeing again.