Felons, sex offenders target of online dating legislation

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com

BY CATHERINE ANDREWS
Medill News Service

SWM, 32. Enjoys travel, cooking and 19th century literature. Nonsmoker. Convicted of a felony in 1998.

Not exactly what a typical online dating profile looks like these days. But if legislation before the Illinois Senate about background checks for dating sites passes, it would be the law.

The draft, House Bill 5299, which was approved by the House on Wednesday and is now in the Senate, would require paid dating sites with over 1,000 users to disclose whether other members are subjected to background checks for sex offenses and felony convictions. If such a check is conducted, the sites would have to disclose information about any member with either a felony or sex offense conviction.

"People in my district came up to me and were saying, 'do you realize those internet dating services don't provide any kind of safety check?' " said Rep. John E. Bradley, D-117, who introduced the legislation. "I said that can't be right, but I looked into it and was shocked to find out they don't. So I proposed just a simple background check. Sites should at least tell their users if they do a check or not."

If the bill passes, sites like Match.com or eHarmony.com that fail to disclose whether or not they perform background checks would face a $1,000 fine.

Patrick Elward, a Chicago web developer and user of several online dating sites, said he thinks that the legislative bodies have good intentions. But it was his belief that people should simply use common sense when it comes to online dating, instead of relying on state regulation.

"The best protection one can use when dating is to use your judgment," Elward said. "There are snakes in all walks of life ... Would it be any more successful if offenders had to wear a large orange cap on their heads when perusing the vegetable aisle at the local grocery store?"

But Bradley thinks the bill, which passed the House 74-36, will be worthwhile and is likely to be approved.

"I know a lot of people really utilize and enjoy these sites and there are a lot of good stories out there," he said. "But let's not wait for there to be a bunch of bad stories, too."