Grindr to pay £26m to settle claims it allegedly shared users' HIV status
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Grindr has agreed to pay £26m to settle a lawsuit over allegations it shared users' personal information—including their HIV status—with third parties.
(Image source: Getty Images)
By Liv McMahon
Technology reporter
Published 2 hours ago
The world's largest LGBTQ+ dating app was sued in the High Court in 2024 over claims it misused people's personal information.
The class action suit was later served in the US, with more than 11,000 claimants, according to the law firm leading the case.
According to a US regulatory filing, Grindr will make two £13m payments to settle the claims. The settlement includes no admission of liability.
Grindr emphasized that the claims relate to "historical data practices" before 2020, when it was owned by Chinese firm Kunlun.
The company's filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission stated:
While Grindr disputes the allegations, it recognizes and acknowledges the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its UK users regarding that pre-2020 period.
Grindr has agreed to pay £13m by 31 December and a further £13m by 31 March 2027.
"Significant distress"
The claims brought two years ago by law firm Austen Hayes alleged Grindr had shared sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes, breaching UK privacy laws. This included information about users' ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Lawyer Chaya Hanoomanjee, who led the claim, stated in April 2024:
"Claimants have experienced significant distress over their sensitive and private information being shared without their consent."
She added that 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 claim alleged they used the data to personalize advertisements for Grindr's users.
This followed revelations in 2018 that Grindr had been sharing personal data—including HIV status—with these two companies.
Grindr defended the practice at the time as standard within the industry, but later stopped sharing HIV data with those companies.
The company has since "overhauled" its privacy practices to cater to its community's unique needs."
Grindr affirmed:
"Grindr is and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices."