Grindr, the LGBTQ+ dating application, has agreed to a settlement of £26 million, equivalent to approximately $35.2 million, to resolve a UK lawsuit. The legal action alleged that the company shared sensitive user data, including HIV statuses, with advertisers.
The settlement was formalized in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 4, indicating that the payment will be made in two installments. The first payment is due by the end of December, with the second scheduled for the end of March.
The lawsuit, initiated by UK users in April 2024, claimed violations of the country's privacy laws. The alleged data sharing incidents occurred before early 2020, during a period when Grindr was under the ownership and management of a Chinese company, Kuntun.
While Grindr maintains that the settlement includes no findings or admission of liability, the company acknowledged in its SEC filing "the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its UK users regarding that pre-2020 period." The company spokesperson declined further comment, directing inquiries to the regulatory filing.
According to the filing, Grindr has "overhauled its privacy program with a keen focus on the unique needs of its community" since new ownership took over in 2020. The company stated it "is and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices."
In May 2024, Kelly Peterson Miranda, then Grindr's chief privacy officer, refuted the lawsuit's central claims. She stated that the company never sold health information, specifically HIV last-tested dates, for advertising purposes. She clarified that health-related information was never used for advertising.
Peterson Miranda explained that the information was shared with two service providers to facilitate the development of a new feature. This feature allowed users to include their HIV status in a dedicated profile field. She emphasized that the sharing was not a breach and was not done unknowingly, but rather in encrypted formats for the purpose of rolling out and monitoring the feature.
The lawsuit reportedly involved approximately 12,000 class members.
