Tinder adds 'share my date' safety feature to dating app

Online daters may now notify friends and family where they are thanks to a new safety feature that Tinder is integrating into the dating app.

Users will be able share the location, time, and photo of their match with others by using the 'Share My Date' option. TechCrunch reports that the links will expire in a few months.

Share My Date will launch in the upcoming months in the UK and other countries.

The new function is inspired by Tinder user data, which showed that 51 per cent of singles under 30 told their friends about their dates in advance.

Tinder's chief marketing officer Melissa Hobley said: "Discussing plans with friends and family is a time-honoured dating ritual.

"Share My Date streamlines this basic info-sharing so singles can jump right to the exciting part."

This comes two years after the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) indicates that there has been an increase in the number of young people who have been sexually assaulted after meeting dates online in recent years.

The organisation reported in 2022 that the percentage of reports involving sexual assault following an internet date increased by more than 80 per cent in six years, reaching 83 per cent, out of occurrences involving women ages 19 and under.

The percentage of these kinds of occurrences that included men increased by about one-quarter (24 per cent).

NCA's Louise Vesely-Shore said at the time: "Anyone dating online should be aware of the potential dangers, so they can be better prepared and make the choices that are right for them."

According to Paul Brunson, Tinder's global relationships insight expert, disclosing specifics of your plans "should be part of your 'date-ready checklist'" and can help make your dates safer by letting friends and family know who and where you are meeting.

Tinder said it is eager to include this element in the enjoyable experience of meeting new people.