Fixing High-Friction Age Verification with ZKP-Based Mobile Onboarding for Dating Apps

The Problem

Dating and social platforms face mounting regulatory and safety pressure to verify user age without compromising anonymity or adding friction to sign-up. Traditional KYC solutions deter new users, expose platforms to PII-handling risks, and still leave moderation teams with weak provenance signals. The result is high abandonment during onboarding, increased moderation workload, and persistent risk of underage or fraudulent accounts entering the ecosystem.

The Solution

One of our digital squads built a lightweight mobile SDK that enables zero-knowledge age verification directly within the app onboarding flow. New users complete a fast verification step via an identity provider or third-party verification partner, which issues either a wallet-based age attestation or a time-limited token.

At sign-up, the SDK requests a ZKP proving the user is above the required age threshold without revealing date of birth or storing sensitive PII. UX patterns were designed to reassure users about privacy while providing fallback paths for those without digital wallets. Moderation hooks exposed only the minimum necessary safety signals, helping trust and safety teams automate gating and reduce manual review.

The Impact

18–25% increase in onboarding completion vs full-KYC flows
Significant reduction in fraudulent or underage account creation
Lower moderation workload due to stronger provenance signals and automated gating
Faster time-to-first-use and improved user trust metrics