Grindr, the world's largest LGBTQ+ dating app, has agreed to pay £26m to settle claims that it shared users' HIV status with third parties before 2020. The settlement includes no admission of liability and focuses on historical data practices. The company is now committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices.
According to a US regulatory filing, Grindr will make two £13m payments to settle the claims. The firm stressed that the claims relate to 'historical data practices' before 2020 when it was owned by Kunlun. A class action suit was also served in the US, with the law firm leading the case saying it had signed up more than 11,000 claimants.
Chaya Hanoomanjee, the lawyer who led the claim, said in April 2024 that claimants had experienced significant distress over their sensitive and private information being shared without consent. She said the company 'owes it to the LGBTQ+ community it serves to compensate those whose data has been compromised.' Two data analytics services, Apptimize and Localytics, were identified as third parties with access to the sensitive data.
The claims brought more than two years ago by law firm Austen Hayes alleged Grindr had shared sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes, breaching UK privacy laws. It said this included information about the ethnicity and sexual orientation of its users. In 2018, Grindr had been sharing personal data, including the HIV status of its users, with these companies. The company defended the practice at the time as in line with industry standards — but it said it then stopped sharing HIV data with those companies.
Grindr was fined £5.5m by Norway's data protection watchdog and, later in 2022, reprimanded by the UK Information Commissioner's Office for its data practices. Since 2020, the firm has 'overhauled' its privacy practices to help meet the 'unique needs of its community.' 'Grindr is and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices,' it said in its filing.
