Grindr to Pay £26 Million to Settle U.K. Claims Over HIV Status Data Sharing

Online dating app Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million to settle a lawsuit in the U.K. over allegations that it shared users' personal information, including their HIV status, with third-parties for commercial purposes, specifically advertising. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of more than 10,000 users. The settlement covers data practices from before 2020, when the company was owned by Kunlun, a Chinese gaming company.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 2, 2026, Grindr stated that the settlement includes no findings or admission of liability, despite disputing the allegations. The company emphasized its commitment to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices since 2020.

In April 2018, a Norwegian non-profit research group SINTEF discovered that Grindr was sharing users' HIV status and last tested date with two companies, Apptimize and Localytics, which were used to optimize the app. Grindr initially halted this data sharing practice.

Grindr has previously been fined £8.6 million in Norway in January 2021, a fine later reduced to £5.5 million, for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by sharing personal data, including location, sexual orientation, and mental health details, with advertisers. The Norwegian court of appeal upheld the fine last October.

Grindr insists it has never sold user information, particularly regarding HIV status or last test date, to third parties or advertisers, except when viewed in a user’s public profile. The data was only used by Apptimize and Localytics to provide services to Grindr.