Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million ($35.2 million) to settle a UK lawsuit alleging it shared users' HIV status with advertisers, with payments due in two installments by March 2027.
Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million, or approximately $35.2 million, to resolve a UK lawsuit alleging the LGBTQ+ dating app shared sensitive user data — including individuals' HIV status — with advertisers, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission signed on September 4.
The settlement, first reported by The Record, concludes a legal dispute that originated in April 2024, when UK users filed suit alleging violations of their country's privacy laws.
Grindr will pay the sum in two installments: one due by the end of December and a second slated for the end of March.
The company's statement in the SEC filing specifies that the settlement "includes no findings or admission of liability."
"While Grindr disputes the allegations, it recognizes and acknowledges the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its UK users regarding that pre-2020 period," the filing states.
The alleged violations occurred before early 2020, during a period when Grindr was owned and operated by a Chinese company identified as Kuntun. Current ownership took over in 2020, and the filing notes that since then Grindr has "overhauled its privacy program with a keen focus on the unique needs of its community."
A spokesperson for Grindr declined to comment beyond the company's filing statement.
The lawsuit, which reportedly encompassed approximately 12,000 class members, centered on claims that user data — including HIV status — was passed to advertising partners.
Grindr's then chief privacy officer, Kelly Peterson Miranda, disputed that characterization in May 2024. "In the lawsuit they allege that we sold health information — HIV last-tested date — and used it for advertising purposes, which categorically I can say no, that never happened," Miranda told Recorded Future News at the time.
Miranda said the data was shared with two service providers to support the development of a new feature that allowed users to voluntarily include HIV status in a dedicated profile field. "It was never a breach, it was never shared unknowingly," she said. "It was shared in encrypted manners for the purposes of actually rolling out and monitoring the feature."
The filing maintains that Grindr "is and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices."
The settlement arrives as regulators and courts across multiple jurisdictions have intensified scrutiny of how platforms handle health-related personal data, particularly when that data flows to third-party advertising ecosystems. The outcome is likely to draw continued attention from privacy advocates monitoring how sensitive categories of user information are treated by consumer apps, especially those serving communities with acute concerns about disclosure.
TechEchelon Staff bylines are produced collectively by the newsroom for short, breaking, and wire-style coverage. Longer-form reporting is published under the responsible reporter's name.
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