Grindr agrees to pay £26m to settle UK user data leak lawsuit

Grindr, the world's largest LGBTQ+ dating software, was suspected of sharing extremely sensitive personal information with advertising companies when it was owned by the Chinese company "Kunlun Wanwei" before 2020. Grindr, currently owned by a US company, announced that it would settle a class action lawsuit with users in the UK for 26 million pounds (approximately NT$1.1 billion).

According to the Guardian, Austen Hays, a law firm in London, UK, accepted a complaint from about 12,000 Grindr users in April 2024, accusing Grindr of violating British privacy laws before 2020. If the compensation is divided equally, each person can receive about 2,167 pounds (approximately NT$92,000).

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Grindr was launched in 2009 as a dating service for gay men. Now it claims to be the world's largest dating app for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, with nearly 15 million users worldwide.

Grindr said that when the company leaked personal information, it was owned by the Chinese company Kunlun Wanwei. In 2020, after the US National Security Council expressed concern that the Chinese government might obtain user personal information, Grindr was acquired by the US investment group San Vicente Acquisition for US$608 million (approximately NT$19.26 billion).

Although the American company Grindr does not agree with the relevant accusations, it understands and is willing to admit that some British users will feel pain due to the leakage of personal information before 2020. It will pay 13 million pounds before the end of this year and another 13 million pounds by the end of March 2027.