Grindr, a popular hookup app, has agreed to a significant payout in the U.K. to settle a lawsuit claiming that sensitive user information, such as HIV status, was unlawfully shared with advertisers. The California-based company will pay £26 million (about $48.6 million Cdn) to approximately 12,000 individuals who joined the legal action led by London law firm Austen Hays in 2024. The lawsuit alleges that Grindr violated U.K. privacy laws by sharing data with third-party companies for financial gain before April 2020.
The shared data included details like users’ HIV status, recent testing dates, test results, and PrEP usage. This information, voluntarily provided by users, could be displayed on their profiles. According to the lawsuit, this data was shared with companies like Localytics and Apptimize for targeted advertising, and it might have been further sold to other parties.
Austen Hays highlighted that Grindr, a significant platform for the 2SLGBTQ+ community in facilitating social interactions, must be accountable for safeguarding user data to restore trust. Eligible users who used the app’s free version from 2016 to 2020 could receive £2,167 or $4,050 Cdn each as part of the settlement. Grindr plans to disburse the settlement funds by the end of this year and by March 31, 2027, as per a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Although Grindr denies the allegations and accepts no liability, it acknowledges users’ concerns about trust and privacy breach prior to 2020. This U.K. lawsuit closely followed Norway’s regulatory actions against Grindr in 2021, where the company was fined for similar data sharing practices. Despite challenging the decision, Grindr lost its appeal in 2024.
Grindr, once owned by Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd., has seen ownership changes due to privacy concerns. Following the U.S. government’s order for Kunlun to divest from Grindr, it was acquired by San Vicente Acquisition LLC in 2020 for $620 million US. The company boasts over 15 million monthly active users globally and reported $138 million US ($190 million CAD) in revenue in the second quarter of 2026.
