Grindr to pay £26m to settle UK privacy lawsuit over data sharing

Grindr will pay £26m to settle a lawsuit brought by thousands of users in the UK who allege that the US dating app shared highly sensitive personal information, including in some cases their HIV status, with advertising companies.

The settlement brings to an end a two-year legal battle, after the UK law firm Austen Hays filed a claim at the high court of England and Wales in April 2024 on behalf of Grindr users alleging violations of UK privacy laws during a period up to early 2020.

The London law firm represented 12,000 people, who will receive an average compensation of £2,167 each, if the £26m is equally distributed.

Grindr was founded in 2009 to make it easier to coordinate hookups for gay men. It now claims to be the world’s largest dating app for gay, bi, trans and queer people, with millions of users around the world.

Grindr said in a US regulatory filing that it had resolved the UK group action related to what it described as “historical data practices before 2020”, when Grindr was owned and controlled by the Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech.

The California company said: “The settlement includes no findings or admission of liability. While Grindr disputes the allegations, it recognises and acknowledges the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its UK users regarding that pre-2020 period.”

Six years ago Grindr was sold to new owners and appointed new management after a US government national security panel raised concerns about its Chinese ownership, and two years later it floated on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company said that it had overhauled its privacy programme since 2020, “with a keen focus on the unique needs of its community”. It stressed that “Grindr is and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control and responsible data practices”.

As part of the UK settlement, Grindr agreed to pay £13m by the end of this year, and a further £13m by the end of March 2027.

Austen Hays’s parent company Gateley has been contacted for comment.