Why is dating website Match.com using facial recognition?

Match.com is now using facial recognition to scan the faces of users’ ex- girlfriends, boyfriends and spouses to identify possible physical matches in the website’s dating pool. The website partnered with a Los Angeles-based dating service called Three Day Rule to gain access to the facial recognition technology. In the coming weeks, Match.com will offer facial recognition functionality as an opt-in service for an additional fee. Six months of the service will cost $5,000.

"People have a type and it's not necessarily about height or race or hair color, but a lot of it is about face shape," Three Day Rule Founder Talia Goldstein told Mashable.

And if Match.com users find their dates aren’t going well, they can always use their panic-button pendant to trigger a fake phone call or alert the authorities to make an escape. The Guardian Angel, disguised as a simple silver pendant, can be worn as a necklace or a bracelet and is sold from a Singapore-based company for $120. The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) receives 10 percent of pendant sales, according to Wired.co.uk.