NSPCC warning over Tinder-like app for teenagers

A Tinder-like app for teenagers is putting youthfull people at risk of predators by having no checks on users’ age, the NSPCC has warned.

The Yellow app claims to have five million users and is the 2nd most popular free lifestyle app after Tinder on the Apple app store in the UK.

Like Tinder, users can connect with strangers by swiping right on their profile picture. When both users mutually ‘like’ each other they can talk by adding each other on picture-messaging service Snapchat.

But unlike dating app Tinder – which raised its minimum age to eighteen this summer after charities said paedophiles could use it to groom children – Yellow does not have checks in place to verify ages.

S napchat is popular amongst teenagers and has a reputation for being used to send sexual content. But there are systems in place which means it is not effortless for users to find strangers.

Yellow, which is possessed by a different company, does permit users to add strangers on Snapchat.

A spokesman for the NSPCC said: “Any app that permits strangers to send photos to children or vice versa is troubling – particularly where the pictures being exchanged are of a sexual nature. And Yellow’s settings that enable adults to view children, through a service blatantly aimed at flirting and relationships, also creates an chance for sexual predators to target youthfull people. This needs to be urgently addressed.

"We want age verification measures in the Digital Economy Bill that will stop under-18s accessing porn websites to be extended to cover social networking platforms. This would mean adults would not be able to pose as children or vice versa, and any operator that failed to conform could face fines or be blocked from operating in the UK.

“We would urge parents to have a conversation with their children so that they know how to stay safe online.”

Y ellow is becoming increasingly popular with British schoolchildren and 16-year-old Harry Rogers, from Dorset, told The Times: “It’s clear that it’s meant to be Tinder for teenagers and it’s fairly creepy.

“Anyone can sign up with no checks and there are lots of teenage ladies there, and some obviously fake profiles.”

The developers of Yellow said: "We have identified the problem of switching the date of birth in the app, and we are presently working on a solution for that problem.

"In the fresh app, which will be available in a few days, any user wanting to edit a fresh date of birth, will have to send proof of ID to our customer service so as to avoid this kind of situations."

They also said underage users cannot detect people over 18-years-old and vice versa and users can also report profiles that seem to have a fake identity.

However the organisation said they would not verify ages on sign-up.

It was announced last week that pornography websites which reject to check ages before permitting people to observe explicit movies will be forcibly blocked.

Tory ministers said that internet providers could face penalty if they fail to act on the request for a site to be blocked by The British Board of Film Classification, which regulates age verification.

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