Londoner speaks out as Grindr sued for 'data leak' allegedly revealing HIV status of users

This article has been amended to make clear that the 'data leak' is an allegation and we would like to make clear that no finding has yet been made.

An alleged data leak from the gay dating app Grindr has meant sensitive personal data of its users, including their HIV statuses, has been shared with third parties, it has been alleged. Thousands of users have joined a legal claim against Grindr searching for compensation as this data could potentially be very dangerous in the wrong hands or while travelling to certain countries according to Chaya Hanoomanjee, the lawyer leading the case.

Norwegian non-profit research organisation SINTEF carried out an experiment in February 2018 which they say established that the personal data of the app's users was being shared with advertisers and analytics. Law firm Austen Hays claims these breaches happened between 2018 and 2020 and potentially beyond this and is urging more Grindr users to join the claim which could potentially entitle them to up to £10,000 compensation, Mrs Hanoomanjee said.

Grindr has disputed this claim and said it has not shared 'user-reported health information' for 'advertising purposes'. A spokesperson said: "Grindr has never sold or shared user-reported health information, including HIV status, for advertising purposes."

READ MORE: Dating app now offering users free and discreet STI kits at home

MyLondon spoke to a 25-year-old claimant from London who has been granted anonymity by the High Court, a rare step which the law firm claims shows the seriousness of the claim.

He said: "I suffer with chronic anxiety anyway and as an LGBT person in a climate where arguably the public perception of the community is getting worse it's quite concerning. Even within the community there's still such a stigma surrounding HIV, let alone the wider ether of the public."

The claimant said they did put their HIV status on the app but it was negative. He still uses it casually but said: "It's definitely changed how I view a company that is supposed to be the centre of trust."

The man also said he received online adverts for PrEP, preventative HIV medication, and he believes what prompted this was data 'potentially supplemented by Grindr'. However, a Grindr spokesperson told MyLondon that advertisements for HIV treatments, or any other medications, have never been dependent on the personal status of users shared in their profiles. These ads may be shown to users on Grindr regardless of their medical status.

'For claimants in other parts of the world, it's quite intense'

Grindr has been rolled out in over 190 countries with 13 million active monthly users in 2023, Austen Hays said. 60 countries have laws that criminalise homosexuality ilga database said, seven of which carry the death penalty and nine carry life prison sentences. Simply knowing somebody is gay in one of these countries could mean death.

The claimant spoke about the risks in other parts of the world. He said: "We're sort of lucky in England, Wales and Scotland to have a pretty tolerant society, even with my previous comments. But I think for claimants in other parts of the world, it's quite intense."

He spoke about his own issues with travelling as a gay man: "It's sad but when I've been to countries like Egypt or Latvia, I have deleted all of the apps, just to make sure I'm super safe. Also, I research the destination before I go - it's just a fact of life for people who are in the gay community."

Grindr has also been accused of being used as a 'honey pot' to catch gay men in Qatar where being gay could even mean the death penalty under Sharia law, BBC reported. British Mexican Manuel Guerrero Aviña, 44, received a 6-month this June suspended sentence and will be deported. His family say police planted drugs in his apartment because they knew he was gay as a user on Grindr.

The legal side: 'What they've done is terrible and not compliant with data privacy laws'

Austen Hays lawyer Chaya Hanoomanjee has said the number of people affected by the alleged leak could be over a million and that 'just being on the app is something very private' to many of these users. She said: "It's caused a lot of anxiety with our clients and their user groups and it's also a bigger message to all the platforms and tech companies about how they should be managing data and privacy."

The lawyer said: "It's not compliant with data privacy laws because particularly when it comes to sensitive data like this, which is linked with your sexuality and or medical information, like the HIV status, you have to get someone's implicit consent and this kind of consent was not sought from out claimants."

Austen Hays said Project Exodus reports showed that Grindr was sharing data with third-party companies including Apptimize and Localytics. Beyond the 'panic attacks' that Mrs Hanoomanjee said her clients have experienced, this could also have further long-term implications for those caught in the alleged data leak.

She said: "It can affect a lot of things. If you think about the way health insurance works for example - there are ways an insurer would have information about people and assess how much they charge. One of our clients mentioned 'I just keep not getting health insurance or it's costing me more and is it because my data has been shared? Because apart from being on Grindr, I'm not openly gay.'"

Mrs Hanoomanjee said she wanted the case to 'confirm that this sort of practice does not exist currently to give comfort to users. And then secondly get compensation for people whose data they have misused in this way'.

To join the claim and check your eligibility, click here.

What has Grindr said?

A spokesperson for Grindr said: “Grindr has never sold or shared user-reported health information, including HIV status, for advertising purposes, as is inaccurately suggested in this legal claim. As we will demonstrate in our response, this claim is based on a fundamental mischaracterization of practices from more than four years ago, prior to early 2020.

"Users in this case appear to have been misled by this mischaracterization, which is a matter of regret, and we remain committed to protecting our users' data and complying with all applicable data privacy regulations."

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