What is Photo Verification?

Photo Verification is an optional process that allows you to show that the photos on your profile look like you. After successful verification, you’ll get a new badge on your profile to show people that you have completed the Photo Verification process.

With Photo Verification, you will also be able to see whether other Tinder profiles have completed the Photo Verification process. That way you can make more informed decisions about who you interact with on Tinder.

How does Photo Verification work?

Photo Verification is as simple as taking a video selfie. You will receive "Photo Verified" status if the person in your video selfie passes both the Liveness Check and 3D Face Authentication components of the process.

The Liveness Check detects the face in your video and helps determine whether the video was taken by a real, live person, and that it was not digitally altered or manipulated. 3D Face Authentication detects your face in your video selfie and your profile photos, and uses facial geometry data to generate a unique number, or facial geometry “template.” These templates are used to help check whether the person in your video selfie is the same person as in your profile photos.

Your facial geometry data, which may be considered biometric data in some jurisdictions, is retained for the lifetime of your account for the purposes set out below in How is my Photo Verification Information used?. Your video selfie itself is deleted after Photo Verification is confirmed and is not added to your profile, but we keep two screenshots from your video selfie for the purposes of auditing and managing this feature.

How is my Photo Verification Information used?

Your facial geometry data is only used for the purposes of Photo Verification. Your video selfie itself is not stored, and is deleted immediately after you complete Photo Verification. The two screenshots we take from your video selfie are used only for the purposes of auditing and managing this feature.

To perform the Photo Verification process, we store and use your facial geometry data and screenshots on our Amazon Web Services (AWS) instances. This information and screenshots are deleted from our AWS instances in the timeframes laid out below, under What will you keep after Photo Verification is complete?. If you want to learn more about AWS’s privacy practices, you can click here.

What will you keep after Photo Verification is complete?

Your facial geometry information is retained after the initial verification so that we can continue to provide the Photo Verification service to you as you change and update your profile photos over time. To do so, your facial geometry data is retained for the lifetime of your account, and is deleted from our systems within 30 days after the closure of your account, in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

We will also keep two screenshots from the video selfie process. We retain this information for the life of your account to audit and manage our Photo Verification feature. We’ll also keep the results of the Photo Verification process (i.e., successful or not) until you close your Tinder account, or alternatively, until your Tinder account is closed after two years of inactivity. As stated above, we do not keep your video selfie, which is deleted after you complete the Photo Verification process.

How do I delete my Photo Verification Information?

Your Photo Verification Information includes your facial geometry data (which is the facial ‘template’ used to complete the verification check) and your video selfie screenshot. Please see below for information on how to delete these two types of data.

Facial Geometry Data

You can delete your facial geometry data by deleting your Tinder account through the app’s settings page.

Why do I need to delete my account in order to delete my facial geometry data?

Tinder’s Photo Verified Badge is a great way to help show potential matches that you really look like your pictures. To help ensure that users are not misled or confused about whether their matches are still Photo Verified, we do not allow users to delete their facial geometry data (thereby disabling Photo Verification) without also resetting their matches and starting again with a regular, unverified account. This requirement is intended to prevent abuse of the Photo Verified Badge and to ensure other users can be confident about whether their matches continue to have Photo Verified accounts.

Video Selfie Screenshots

You can request deletion of the two screenshots from your video selfie by writing to our Community team here. In any event, this information is deleted upon account closure, in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Under what legal authority do you process the Photo Verification Information?

We process the Photo Verification Information with your consent.

How do I find more information about Tinder’s data practices, including my privacy rights?

Visit our Privacy Policy to learn more about our privacy practices, including the Your Rights section.

Trouble with Photo Verification?

If you’re experiencing trouble with capturing your video selfie, you can exit the Photo Verification flow and start again. See here for more additional instructions for using this feature. If you experience any issues or have feedback about Photo Verification, please feel free to contact us!

What if I have another question?