To background check, or not, is online love’s latest question, at least according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The course of true love has never run smooth, but who ever thought it would come to this?
There have been plenty of stories lately about men and women using background check services like SentryLink to check out prospective dates. But now the battle has moved to the online dating services. According to the Tribune story:
The contentious issue of the moment – pitting one of the three biggest companies, True.com, against its major rivals – is whether online dating services can enhance their clients’ safety by conducting criminal background screenings of would-be daters. Last month, New Jersey became the first state to enact a law requiring the sites to disclose whether they perform background checks. True.com – the only large online dating service that already does such screenings – was elated by its successful lobbying and hopes other states will follow suit.
There are two things going on here. True.com is seeking a marketing edge and preying on the fears of people who might be considering using an online service to help them find a date or a mate.
Many people use online services like Match.com or Eharmony.com because they’ve exhausted the usual sources of dates. If you can’t find a date among the people at work, at church, at school or at a volunteer activity, what do you do?
There seem to be three choices. You can assume that dating is not in your future and hope somebody interesting shows up at one of the places where you hang out. You can hit the singles bars. Or you can try one of the online services.
Since you’ll be in contact with people you don’t know, both the bars and the net offer the possibility that you’ll run into a predator or a nut case. Your best defense is good judgment and paying attention to warning signs.
If a background check will make you feel more secure, use a service like SentryLink that lets you check national criminal records for a modest fee. I’d be much more comfortable with that than will leaving the checking in the hands of some dating service.