United Kingdom

Grindr to Pay £26M Over UK HIV Data-Sharing Claims

Is Grindr's data scandal a legacy problem fixed by new owners or a betrayal of users still owed damages?

Published SEP 8

Grindr to Pay £26M Over UK HIV Data-Sharing Claims

Story

Above: A photo illustration of the Grindr logo displayed on a smartphone. Image credit: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

The Facts

The LGBT online dating app Grindr agreed to pay £26 million ($35.1 million) to settle a U.K. lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that it shared users' sensitive personal information, including their HIV status, with advertising companies, according to a U.S. regulatory filing.
Pravda EN
BBC News
Under the terms disclosed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Grindr will pay £13 million to the counter-parties by Dec.31 and a further £13 million by March 31, 2027, roughly $17.6 million each at early September exchange rates.
US Securities and Exchange Commission
Grindr stated that the deal includes no findings or admission of liability and that it continues to dispute the allegations, but that it acknowledges "the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its U.K. users regarding that pre-2020 period."
US Securities and Exchange Commission
The agreement ends a legal battle that began in April 2024 when the law firm Austen Hays filed a claim at the High Court of England and Wales, which was later served in the U.S. In total, it represented more than 11,000 claimants, who would receive an average of £2,167 each if the funds are split equally.
Austen Hays
Austen Hays
LBC
The original claim accused Grindr of sharing sensitive data with the advertising firms Localytics and Apptimize without consent, potentially allowing unlimited third parties to target ads. Lawyer Chaya Hanoomanjee said clients had "experienced significant distress" as a result.
Austen Hays
Previously, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority fined Grindr 65 million kroner in 2021 after finding consents for sharing data with advertising partners invalid. Meanwhile, the U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) issued a reprimand over transparency failings in July 2022.
Information Commissioner's Office
Norwegian Data Protection Authority

Sources Split

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ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

While Grindr acknowledges the distress and loss of trust associated with this case, it is important to remember that the allegations predate 2020, when the Chinese conglomerate Kunlun called the shots, not the app's current ownership, which has rebuilt the privacy program from the ground up. That is why this settlement carries no admission or finding of liability.

US Securities and Exchange Commission

Narrative B

Handing HIV status, test dates and PrEP use to advertisers was a betrayal of the very community Grindr claimed to protect. Nevertheless, despite Norway hitting the app with a record fine and the ICO issuing a reprimand, no apology or compensation followed, which is why thousands of users deserve damages for the fear and stigma this exposure caused.

Austen Hays

National AIDS Trust