Ofcom Mandates Stricter Age Verification for Dating Apps
Dating apps, including Grindr and Tinder, must implement stringent age verification systems by July 2025 to prevent minors from accessing their platforms, Ofcom has announced. The decision follows an investigation by The i Paper, which uncovered 130 police reports of child abuse linked to underage users of apps like Grindr since 2019.
Under the new guidelines, dating apps are classified as “user-to-user” services, requiring them to comply with the Online Safety Act of 2023. This legislation aims to protect children from harmful online content but previously left ambiguity about its application to dating platforms. Companies failing to comply face fines of up to 10% of global revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater.
The regulations demand highly effective age assurance methods, such as photo ID verification, facial age estimation, or banking data to confirm users’ ages. Ofcom’s online safety policy development director, Almudena Lara, described this as a “societal change” requiring significant shifts in how platforms operate.
In practice, this means that dating apps may be pushed for harsher verification methods that are harder to avoid. While some rely on things like users’ IDs to verify accounts, others are simply accessible by signing up with your email – and that ease of accessibility may need to change in the near future if underage users continue to be a recurring problem.
Ofcom has alledegely confimed that dating apps will be pushed to implement age check methods within six months, with similar systems also being required for pornography websites. This would make the platforms compliant with the UK Online Safety Act, an act that was established in 2023 but so far hasn’t been conistently implemented or enforced.