Dating app photo verification checks that a real person matches their photos

Photo verification is a check that the person behind a profile is the person in its pictures. Instead of trusting that a profile's photos are honest, the app asks the member to prove it in the moment, with their own face, in front of their own camera.

It exists because the oldest trick in online dating is the borrowed photo. Someone takes pictures from a stranger's social media, builds a profile around them and starts chatting. Verification makes that trick much harder, because the stranger in the photos is not the one holding the phone.

On Miragano, verification happens after you add your profile photos. You take a live selfie while copying a random pose shown on your screen. That selfie is then matched against the photos on your profile.

• The live selfie shows that a real person is taking part right now, not a saved image.
• The random pose means you cannot prepare a picture in advance, because you do not know which pose you will be asked for.
• The photo match confirms the face in the selfie is the face in your profile pictures.
• The human review kicks in when the automatic match is unsure, so a person on our team looks before a decision is made.

Once you are verified, you can appear in Discover. Members who have not been verified do not show up there at all, which is how we keep the promise that everyone you see has done the same check you did.

A fixed pose would be easy to fake. If every member had to hold up a peace sign, a catfish could simply find a peace sign photo of the person they are impersonating. A pose chosen at random, at the moment you verify, closes that gap. The only reliable way to copy it is to be there, with your face, doing it live.

This is the part most apps skip, so we will be plain about it. Photo verification proves that the person in the photos is a real person and is the one using the account. That is genuinely useful. It is also all it proves.

• It does not check ID documents, so it does not confirm a legal name.
• It does not run criminal record or background checks.
• It cannot tell you someone's intentions, kindness or relationship status.
• It does not guarantee that everything written in a bio is true.

Verification is one layer. Every member is 18 or over, with a date of birth given at sign-up. Profile photos are screened automatically, and anything flagged goes to a person. Bios and prompts block phone numbers, email addresses, social handles and links, which makes it harder for someone to pull you off the app before you know them.

If something still feels off, reporting and blocking are free and available from any chat. Reports are reviewed by people. You can read more on our safety page.

Yes, and it always will be. Verification, reporting, blocking and safe date check-ins are free for everyone on Miragano. Safety is never a premium feature, because charging people to be safer is not a business we want to be in.

• Use recent profile photos where your face is clear, so the match has something good to compare with.
• Find decent light. Facing a window works better than a lamp behind you.
• Take off sunglasses and anything covering most of your face for the selfie.
• Copy the pose as shown, and hold the phone steady for a moment.

Ready to try it? Create your account and you can verify as part of setting up your profile.