Grindr to pay £26m to settle claims it allegedly shared users' HIV status

What the report says

Grindr has agreed to pay £26m to settle a UK lawsuit over claims that it shared users’ personal information, including HIV status, with third parties. The BBC reports the case was brought in the High Court in 2024 and later served in the US as a class action, with the law firm behind it saying more than 11,000 people joined the claim.

According to a regulatory filing cited by BBC News, the company will make two payments of £13m, with no admission of liability. Grindr said the dispute concerns historical data practices before 2020, when the app was owned by China’s Kunlun. The filing said the settlement was reached on 2 September, and the payments are due by the end of 2026 and early 2027.

The claim focused on allegations that Grindr shared sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes, including information linked to ethnicity, sexual orientation and HIV status. Two analytics firms, Apptimize and Localytics, were identified as having access to some of the data. Grindr said it has changed its privacy practices since 2020 and that it remains committed to user control and responsible data handling.

The case matters because it highlights long-running concerns about how dating apps handle highly sensitive health and identity data, especially within LGBTQ+ communities. The BBC notes the company has previously faced scrutiny from data regulators in Norway and the UK over related practices.