Grindr to Pay £26 Million to Settle UK User Privacy Lawsuit
Grindr will pay £26 million to settle a UK lawsuit over sharing sensitive user data, including HIV status, prior to 2020. The settlement benefits 12,000 plaintiffs represented by Austen Hays.
The dating application Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million to settle a lawsuit filed by thousands of users in the United Kingdom. The plaintiffs alleged that the company shared highly sensitive personal information, including the HIV status of some users, with advertising firms. The settlement was reported on Monday by The Guardian.
This resolution concludes a legal battle that lasted approximately two years. The British law firm Austen Hays filed the lawsuit in the High Court of England and Wales in April 2024 on behalf of the app's users, alleging violations of UK privacy laws during the period leading up to early 2020.
Settlement Details and Payment Schedule
Austen Hays represented approximately 12,000 individuals. If the settlement amount is distributed equally among them, each plaintiff will receive an average compensation of £2,167. Under the terms of the agreement, Grindr has committed to paying £13 million by the end of this year, with the remaining £13 million to be paid by the end of March 2027.
In a regulatory filing in the United States, Grindr confirmed it had reached an agreement to settle the class-action lawsuit, which it described as relating to "historical data practices prior to 2020." During that period, the application was owned and controlled by the Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech.
Grindr stated:
"The settlement agreement does not include any findings or admission of liability. While Grindr disputes the allegations, it recognizes the distress and loss of trust reported by some of its UK users regarding the period prior to 2020."
The parent company of Austen Hays issued a similar statement, adding: "We thank our clients for trusting us to handle this sensitive case."
Previous Regulatory Fines
In 2018, Grindr announced it would stop sharing its users' HIV status with third-party companies after researchers in Norway revealed that such data had been transmitted to two firms. In 2021, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority fined the company 65 million Norwegian kroner (approximately £4.8 million at the time, representing about 10% of its global revenue) for violating data protection regulations.
Grindr appealed the decision, but the Norwegian Court of Appeal upheld the fine last October. The court ruled that because the company shared users' personal data for advertising purposes, its claim that it does not sell personal data to third parties for advertising was "clearly misleading."
Ownership Changes and Market Valuation
In 2020, Grindr was sold to the investment group San Vicente Acquisition for $608 million, following concerns raised by a US national security committee that the Chinese government could access and exploit the personal data of American users. In 2022, the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in a transaction that valued it at $2.1 billion. Its current market valuation is estimated at approximately $2.65 billion.
The company asserts that since 2020, it has comprehensively overhauled its privacy policy, with a "special focus on the unique needs of the community." Grindr claims it "was and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data management."
Founded in 2009 to facilitate connections among gay men, Grindr now describes itself as the world's largest dating app for gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals, with nearly 15 million users worldwide.
