Following Tinder's addition of safety features to its mobile dating service last month, another top dating app owned by Match Group is following suit; Match announced today (February 18) that it is adding its own safety features

The new dating check-in feature is the highlight of Match's new Safety Center With Date Check-In, you can let your date know that you are on a date, or send an SOS if you feel unsafe while on a date

Here's how the new feature works Opt-in by selecting the date check-in icon that appears in the upper right corner of the match's conversation This allows you to add up to three friends or relatives as safety contacts who need to confirm their invitation They will then be able to receive your dating information (when, where, and with whom you are going out)

Match believes that you want to provide that information to your trusted contacts not because your friends are nosy, but because they provide the backup you need if a date goes bad When you go out on a date, the Check-In feature sends you a text message to make sure everything is going well If they feel unsafe, they can type "yes" and an alert will be sent to their contacts; Match also urges users who feel unsafe on a date to call 911

If this sounds familiar, Tinder, owned by the same parent company as Match, added a similar safety feature last month; in Tinder's case, the safety feature works in conjunction with the separate Noonlight app, which also provides a panic button to alert users when they feel unsafe

Dating apps like the one owned by Match are under increased scrutiny to provide features that keep customers safe when meeting people through the app And app makers have more incentive to add such features than the fact that it is the right thing to do After all, the more comfortable people feel, the more likely they are to continue using an app

When Tinder added the safety feature in January, Match Group promised that similar features would be added to other dating sites; in addition to Tinder and Match, Match Group operates Hinge, eHarmony, OKCupid, and Plenty of Fish Plenty of Fish