The US-based LGBTQ+ dating application Grindr has agreed to a substantial financial settlement in a lawsuit filed in the UK. The lawsuit alleged that the app shared users' sensitive personal details, including their HIV status, with various advertising firms without obtaining their prior consent.
The total settlement amounts to £26 million (equivalent to $35 million) and addresses claims made by approximately 12,000 users regarding how the company managed personal data before the beginning of 2020. Despite the agreement, Grindr maintains that the allegations against it are unfounded.
In a regulatory filing submitted to US authorities late last week, Grindr stated that the settlement does not constitute any finding or admission of liability. Nevertheless, the company acknowledged the sense of 'distress and loss of trust' experienced by some of its users.
Детали судебного разбирательства
The legal proceedings were initiated in April 2024 by the law firm Austen Hays at the High Court of England and Wales. According to the firm, the information that was reportedly disclosed also encompassed details such as HIV test dates and whether users were taking medication to prevent infection. To safeguard the individuals involved, anonymity orders were granted for those who brought the case.
The settlement, which was finalized on September 2, mandates that Grindr will remit £13 million by the close of the current year, followed by an additional £13 million by March 31, 2027. The specific amounts awarded to individual claimants have not been disclosed, and legal and insurance expenses will be subtracted according to the terms published by Austen Hays.
Grindr, which was established in 2009, was under the ownership of the Chinese gaming entity Beijing Kunlun Tech during the timeframe relevant to the UK claims. The company was sold in 2020 following concerns raised by US authorities about the potential access of American users' personal data by the Chinese government. Since then, the company has reported overhauling its privacy protocols.
Prior to this, in 2018, researchers from Norway discovered that Grindr had been sharing users' HIV status with two different analytics providers, a practice which Grindr later announced it would cease. Furthermore, in a separate instance, Norway's data protection authority imposed a fine of 65 million Norwegian krone ($7 million) on Grindr in 2021 for sharing personal information for advertising purposes without proper consent. This penalty was confirmed by an appeals court in October 2025.
The Norwegian Consumer Council also determined that Grindr's assertion that it did not sell users' personal information to third parties for advertising was misleading.