Florida Joins True's Safety Campaign

(onlinedatingmagazine.com - August 16, 2004) Gaining further support for its national legislation campaign that seeks to protect online daters from interacting with sexual predators and criminals, today True (an online dating service) announced it has secured legislative support in a fourth key state -- Florida. State Representative Kevin C. Ambler (R - Tampa) from Florida is the sixth lawmaker to embrace True's monumental legislative movement, joining Senator John Carona and Representative Will Hartnett of Texas, Representatives William J. Seitz and Scott Oelslager of Ohio and Delegate David Albo of Virginia.

True's proposed safety legislation requires that all online dating services conduct felony and sexual offense background searches on their members. Additionally, the legislation proposes that any online dating service that fails to implement such increased safety measures must prominently warn their potential members of this serious security deficiency on their website. Currently, True is the only online relationship service that actively promotes the safety of its members by performing extensive criminal screening on all of its communicating members.

"It is incumbent on all lawmakers to ensure that our citizens can lead their lives in as safe an environment as possible," said Rep. Kevin C. Ambler of the Florida House of Representatives. "In light of the rapidly growing popularity of Internet dating, it is crucial that we consider ways increasingly to protect citizens from predators who lurk online."

True claims that a recent survey of single females ages 18-34 conducted by Russell Research, found that 90 percent of those polled would feel more safe using an online dating site that pre-screened members against databases of known criminals. Additionally, the research found that 78 percent of those polled would support state legislation requiring online dating services to pre-screen members against databases of known criminals.

"There is a need to protect online dating consumers and it's evident in the positive response that we've received to date. In just over a month, we've secured the support of lawmakers in four states, all of whom are concerned about protecting their citizens from criminal activity online," said Herb Vest, CEO and founder of True. "As an industry, we have an obligation to increase the safety of our customers to the greatest extent possible, and we look forward to welcoming additional advocates from across the United States who will soon be joining our important cause."

True's exclusive criminal background screening service through Rapsheets searches more than 175 million criminal records.