Tinder goes adult-only from next week

Location-based smartphone dating app Tinder will no longer allow anyone under the age of 18 to use the service as of next week. To date, the app has let users as young as 13 start swiping, but prevented them from interacting with anyone older than 17.

"On a platform that has facilitated over 11 billion connections, we have the responsibility of constantly assessing our different user experiences," said Tinder VP of Communications Rosette Pambakian, in a statement provided to TechCrunch. "Consistent with this responsibility, we have decided to discontinue service for under 18 users. We believe this is the best policy moving forward. This change will take effect next week."

The move is said to affect less than 3% of Tinder's total user base.

In order to create a Tinder account, a user must link it with their Facebook profile. Information such as age is tied to one's Facebook account. Changing one's age on Facebook will also change one's age on Tinder, making it easy for one to lie about their age. Creating a fake profile is another alternative. As such, Tinder's move won't necessarily cut off users under 18 from the service, but will make it harder for predators to intentionally seek out minors through the use of a fake account.