Introducing The Online Dating Association

We recently learned that all the biggest dating sites in the UK have decided to unite under one roof – so to speak – in order to give more protection to us, the users.

They’ve all agreed to found a new association – the aptly named Online Dating Association. Even though it’s essentially a gathering of minds for the industry, it also has direct consequences to the public. The dating sites will, of course, stay as they are, with their own unique name, membership base, design etc, but what will change is transparency.

What this means is that the 13 founding members of the ODA (and presumably also those sites that decide to join later) will sign up to a code of practice which insists on transparency with consumers over a wide variety of issues, including the pricing, billing, data privacy and also something that we consider very important – the authenticity of profiles.

We’ve heard they will also create a page with lots of dating tips and consumer advice, sounds like a good idea to have a place where all the information and standards are clear to everyone. We sometimes get questions from our readers concerning fake profiles or how to unsubscribe from a dating site – while we do what we can to help, we can’t hold anyone responsible when people feel that their rights have been violated. Now there’s hopefully a body that will take good care of your rights as an online dater.

All this is supposed to go live before the end of October. The initial members of the ODA will be eHarmony, The Dating Lab, Oasis, Match, My Single Friend, Guardian Soulmates, Love and Friends, Dating Factory, Christian Connection, Muddy Matches, Lovestruck, Freedating and the Single Solution. Most of these sites have been reviewed by us and have received some of our highest scores too.

More information about the Online Dating Association here and you can also get better acquainted with the dating sites on our dating reviews page.

About the Author

Aet Suvari has been reviewing and writing about the world of online dating since 2008 and the launch of Online Dating Help. A stickler for promoting ethical practices within the UK dating industry she champions the sites that get it right while highlighting those holding it back. You can follow her on Google+