A draft bill in Albany seeks to force Internet dating sites to disclose to New York members whether it performs criminal background checks and, if so, whether it has a policy of denying convicted criminals Web access.

The bill, proposed by assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer of Queens, would also require dating sites to post recommended dating safety measures.

Some in the online dating industry see this as bad policy because it could create a false sense of security. “Our privacy precautions and safety guidelines are preferable to background checks, which are unreliable, unregulated and often incomplete,” a spokesman for Lavalife, a popular online dating site, wrote in an e-mail. “For those reasons, we oppose legislation proposed in certain U.S. states endorsing background checks.”

Assemblyman Michael Benedetto of the Bronx, who is a member of Ms. Pheffer’s committee, said he looks at this bill “very favorably” and that even though background checks are fallible, they are a worthy measure.

“You can’t give absolute guarantees to anybody. All you can do is go out of your way and provide them with as much information as is reasonable. Beyond that, everybody has to apply their own common sense,” he said. A similar bill in the New Jersey Legislature received approval last month.