Grindr, a popular hookup app, has agreed to a substantial settlement in a U.K. lawsuit over allegations of selling sensitive user information, including HIV status, to advertisers. The California-based company will pay £26 million (about $48.6 million Cdn) to approximately 12,000 individuals who joined the claim filed by London law firm Austen Hays in 2024. The lawsuit asserts that Grindr breached U.K. privacy laws by sharing data with external entities prior to April 2020 in exchange for financial benefits.
The shared data encompassed details such as users’ HIV status, recent testing history, PrEP usage, and more, which users can choose to disclose on their profiles. This information, as per the lawsuit, was shared with third-party companies like Localytics and Apptimize for targeted advertising purposes. The lawsuit further alleges that this data may have been sold to additional parties beyond the initial recipients.
Austen Hays emphasized that Grindr, a vital platform in the 2SLGBTQ+ community for facilitating social interactions, needs to be accountable for its handling of user data to restore trust among its users. Eligible claimants who utilized the free version of the app from 2016 to 2020 could receive £2,167 or $4,050 Cdn each if the payout is distributed evenly.
According to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Grindr plans to disburse the settlement in two installments, with the first half expected to be paid by the end of this year and the remainder by March 31, 2027. Notably, Grindr clarified that the settlement does not imply an admission of wrongdoing, although it acknowledged the concerns and loss of trust expressed by some U.K. users regarding the pre-2020 data sharing practices.
The legal action in the U.K. followed a 2021 incident where Norway fined Grindr for unlawfully sharing user data, a decision that Grindr unsuccessfully contested in 2024. Grindr, previously owned by Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd., underwent ownership changes due to concerns about data privacy, leading to its acquisition by San Vicente Acquisition LLC in 2020.
As an influential social networking platform for the 2SLGBTQ+ community worldwide, Grindr has seen significant revenue growth, reporting $138 million US ($190 million CAD) in revenue in the second quarter of 2026.