Grindr, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ dating application, has reached a settlement valued at £26m to resolve legal claims regarding the handling of user personal information. The high court case, initiated in 2024, was brought as a class action suit with more than 11,000 registered claimants. The lawsuit later expanded to include proceedings in the United States.
According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission dated 2 September, Grindr will make payments of £13m by 31 December and an additional £13m by 31 March 2027. The company stated that the settlement does not constitute an admission of liability. Grindr attributed the disputed practices to a “historical” period ending in 2020, when the company was under Chinese ownership by Kunlun.
The allegations, brought by law firm Austen Hayes, centered on the unauthorized sharing of sensitive user data with third parties for commercial purposes, in violation of UK privacy regulations. The information in question allegedly included details about users’ ethnicity, sexual orientation, and HIV status. Two data analytics services, Apptimize and Localytics, were identified as recipients of this data, which was subsequently used to tailor advertisements to Grindr’s user base.
Grindr acknowledged in its filing that some UK users experienced distress regarding the pre-2020 data practices, while maintaining its position that the claims lack merit. The company stated it has substantially reformed its privacy protocols since 2020 to address community concerns. Prior regulatory actions included a £5.5m penalty from Norway’s data protection authority and a reprimand from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office in 2022 related to these historical practices.
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