Grindr Settles UK Privacy Lawsuit for £26 Million
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The dating app will pay to resolve claims it shared sensitive health and location data with third parties, though it admits no liability.
Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million ($35.1 million) to settle a UK class action lawsuit alleging the company shared sensitive user data with third parties, according to reporting from The Register.
The claim, filed in England's High Court in April 2024 by the law firm Austen Hays, alleged that Grindr violated UK data protection laws. The lawsuit relied on 2018 research from SINTEF which found that Grindr shared GPS locations, sexual orientation, and highly sensitive medical data—including users' HIV status and their last test date—with third-party analytics firms Apptimize and Localytics. Austen Hays told The Register the sharing could have allowed an unlimited number of third parties to customize advertising to target users.
According to a Form 8-K filing, Grindr will pay the settlement in two £13 million installments by December 31, 2026, and March 31, 2027. The company admits no liability and disputes the allegations, though it acknowledged the "distress and loss of trust" felt by UK users. Grindr noted in its filing that the challenged practices occurred before 2020, when the app was owned by the Chinese company Kunlun before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) mandated a sale.
This settlement follows a separate legal battle in Norway. The Register reports that in December 2021, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority issued a 65 million kroner ($6.9 million) fine after finding the company shared personal data with advertising partners without obtaining consent. After years of challenges, the fine was upheld by Norway's Privacy Appeals Board in September 2023, the Oslo District Court in 2024, and the Borgarting Court of Appeal in October 2025.