MatchAble, a dating app for differently-abled who wish to swipe right
“About 41 per cent of people with disabilities in India do not get married,” says founder of a dating app which focus on people with special needs.
There are more than 2.5 crore dating app users who are looking for prospective partners to swipe right if and when their vibes match. But what about those who are differently-abled? Don't they have the same rights to choose a partner?
After staying in the United States for a while, Minal Sethi returned to India only to find that there is much to be done to ensure equality, accessibility and inclusivity.
“Everybody is treated equally there (US), and it's not like a taboo, everything is accessible. And however, when I came back to India, I realised that’s not there", she told Hindustan Times in an interview.
And thus MatchAble, a dating app catering to the differently abled was born.
The recently launched networking app claims to be a platform to break the taboo. A forum far from the orthodox norms of the society, the app according to the maker believes in making genuine connections to enable differently-abled people to find partners.
"I thought maybe we can bridge the gap. So I decided to take the plunge", she said, while lamenting that the popular dating apps which are meant to be accessible to all but it is not happening.
“About 41 per cent of people with disabilities in India do not get married,” Sethi said.
But a dating app like MatchAble which is catering to the differentially abled needs a strong technological infrastructure as this section of the population is more vulnerable to cybercrimes.
“We have a verification process where they get a blue badge once they add pictures and like industry standards when they put a real-time picture, it gets automated and verified by all people on the back end so that we know people are not phishing, scamming, spamming", Sethi explained.
“We also have rules against any violent words, any harassment. Those words are hashed out,” the MatchAble founder added further.
Dating apps are often criticised for compromising the privacy and data of users. The underlying algorithm is often closely scrutinised for inclination towards a certain trait, looks in people. On this issue, Sethi said, “As we go forward, we learn more, we grow more, we will try to make it a very sort of close space so that nobody feels unsafe.”
The rapid digital revolution is bringing innovative technologies which are bridging economical as well as social gaps prevalent within our society. However, it warrants care to use this technology cautiously while dealing with sensitive information, as otherwise, the technology also has the potential to be counterproductive.