Verification
Four steps. Only step 2, your phone number, is active in the pilot: you can't match or message anyone until it's done. The other three are in build. Sweatty connects, you decide who you train with.
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1
Email — in build
Not yet active in the app.
Planned: a single 6-digit code to confirm a working address. No magic links you can't trace. The website waitlist already uses double opt-in; the in-app check is not built yet.
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2
Phone (SMS)
Required before your first match.
A real, current mobile number, confirmed with a one-time SMS code. One number per account.
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3
Photo liveness — in build
Not yet active in the pilot.
Planned: a short selfie video. We will compare it to your profile photos and confirm it's a real, live capture — not a still image, not a deepfake. The selfie itself is never shown to other users; it's a server-side check only.
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4
Sweatty Verified badge — in build
Not yet active in the pilot.
Planned: a small badge on your profile, earned after 3 completed sessions and no reports. It will tell other users you've shown up, trained, and nobody flagged you. It won't tell anyone anything else about you — no real-name disclosure, no employer, no address.
Why we don't run background checks
Background checks sound reassuring. They're also expensive, slow, and miss most of what people are actually worried about. Across UK and EU data, most reported harassment on partner-matching platforms comes from people without any prior conviction — the check would have come back clean and you'd have trusted the wrong person more.
A DBS check costs around £18-£23 (UK), takes 8 weeks at standard pace, and only flags convictions and certain cautions. ACRO and equivalent EU checks are similar. None of them detect grooming, intimidation, or the kind of low-grade unpleasantness that ruins a workout.
We chose live verification, transparent reporting, and a fast human-review loop over a false sense of background-check security. If you want a partner who's been through a DBS — train at a regulated gym with employed staff. Sweatty is for finding peers.