Grindr, the prevalent dating app, is navigating a class-action lawsuit over allegations of distributing users’ sensitive personal data to third-party companies without consent. Most notably included in this breach is the HIV status of thousands of UK-based users.
Reports of such data breaches have incited considerable concern among Grindr’s user community. The unexpected revelation of deeply private data has caused feelings of violation and fear. In response, the affected users have initiated a class-action lawsuit against Grindr, seeking justice and stronger measures against such data breaches in the future.
A respectable UK-based law firm, Austen Hays, has taken up the charge. The firm now represents over 670 potential claimants and contends that Grindr has infractions against the UK’s data protection legislation.
Grindr’s data breach lawsuit proceedings
Empirically, Austen Hays alleges that Grindr has shared sensitive user information with external companies for profit—termed as an “illegal process and sharing users’ data”—without obtaining the necessary consent from the users.
In defense, Grindr paints third-party companies not as ‘advertising companies’, as implied by Austen Hays, but as firms with broader functionality that work in mobile app marketing and analytics. Furthermore, Grindr portrays these businesses as extensively involved in A/B testing and coordinating new feature launches. Grindr maintains that these companies play pivotal roles in product development above all else.
Despite admitting to sharing some categories of sensitive user data with these third parties in 2018, Grindr ensures that this sharing was not carried out with advertising intentions. In light of the backlash, the company pledged to stop future data sharing activities, however, user privacy concerns remain due to Grindr’s historical data sharing practices.
Addressing the ongoing lawsuit, Grindr holds firm that it has always adhered strictly to data privacy laws and asserts the lawsuit is based on a misinterpretation of its conduct from four years ago. The company is ready and determined to challenge the allegations it faces robustly.
