Attention All Singles: An iPhone App for Safe Dating
Here’s something for all you singles and of course concerned parents who want to sleep a little bit better at night even knowing that their daughter is out in the big bad dating pool. Intelius, the Bellevue provider of background checks, has come out with an iPhone application called Date Check which is a “private investigator in your purse.”
You enter the name, phone number or e-mail id of the “person of interest” and DateCheck instantly scans the online and offline public records. The aptly named “Sleaze Detector” screens the seemingly perfect date who sounds too good to be true for drug possession, assault, DUI or other convictions. On getting the “OK” signal, you can probe further with “Net Worth” which basically gives carte blanche for being a nosy-parker and gives you juicy tidbits about the date’s home , his/her worth etc. Then if you are worried about any lurking ex-girlfriend, “Living Situation” gives you the scoop on who else inhabits the same address. You could choose to let all spontaneity slip away and get the date’s horoscope, the social networking sites he/she frequents etc. While you might be well used to goggling your potential dates, imagine all the impromptu possibilities this app opens up! You could say yes immediately to the cute guy who asks you out at the grocery store after just one quick trip to the restroom and getting the green signal from your DateCheck.
“Letting a stranger into your life is a huge risk, and in the age of Internet anonymity, a simple online search isn’t enough to tell you everything you need to know,” said Intelius co-founder John Arnold. “The Date Check mobile application removes some of the guesswork and gives you the confidence to decide on the spot if continuing the conversation is worth your time.”
Date Check can be found in the iPhone app store. The Android and Blackberry versions comes out next month. You pay $19.95 for a criminal check, and $14.95 for a property and neighborhood report. Social networking profiles cost $9.95, and people search reports $1.95. The whole enchilada would be $39.95. As the company puts it “ Look up before you hook up!”
