Grindr will pay £26 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by 12,000 users in the UK, who accused the platform of sharing highly sensitive personal data with advertising companies, including, in some cases, information about their HIV status.
If divided equally, the settlement would amount to an average of around £2,167 per claimant. The case was brought in 2024 by UK law firm Austen Hays, with users alleging that Grindr’s practices breached UK data protection laws in the period up to early 2020.
Grindr has not admitted legal liability. In a statement, the company said the case related to “historic data practices prior to 2020,” when it was controlled by China’s Beijing Kunlun Tech. It also said it recognised the distress and loss of trust expressed by some users and had since overhauled its privacy programme.
Founded in 2009, Grindr says it now has around 14.7 million users worldwide.
Grindr’s handling of sensitive data has faced regulatory scrutiny in the past. In 2018, the company announced that it would stop sharing users’ HIV status with third-party companies, while in 2021 Norway’s data protection authority fined it 65 million Norwegian kroner for privacy violations.
Founded in 2009, Grindr says it now has around 14.7 million users worldwide and is the world’s largest dating app for gay, bi, trans and queer people.
Source: The Guardian
