According to an article that I found on Newsday this morning, new legislation scheduled for consideration by an Assembly committee on Monday will force online dating Web sites to take more responsibility for protecting online dating users from predators.

Despite advice from Bill Ashworth, the director of state government affairs at Yahoo! who says that fraud and differing state laws make background checks unreliable, the proposed law would require Internet dating services to inform their customers whether or not background checks have been conducted on their members.

Sites that do not conduct background checks would have to post that information on their sites in large bold capital letters, while dating services that do conduct background checks must advise whether the service permits site access to those with criminal convictions.

Quite frankly, I think that anyone using a dating service regardless of whether it screens its members, should get an independent background check on anyone whom they’ve met online and intend to persue a deeper relationship.

For more information, please consult my article What Can Be Learned From Conducting a Personal Background Check? that also lists some recommended services.

What are your thoughts? Would you trust the screening provided an online dating service? Have you ever had an independent background check conducted? Did you ever wish (too late) you’d had someone screened. Please leave your comments below…