Revealed: Grindr is sharing the HIV status of users with outside companies

Gay dating app Grindr is sharing the HIV status of its users with outside firms, it has been revealed.

A Norwegian nonprofit has discovered that the information is being shared with two private companies that help “optimise” apps, Localytics and Apptimize.

The information also includes users’ screen names, GPS data, email address and phone ID.

(Leon Neal/Getty Images)

“Thousands of companies use these highly-regarded platforms. These are standard practices in the mobile app ecosystem,” Grindr Chief Technology Officer Scott Chen told BuzzFeed, who verified the claims.

“No Grindr user information is sold to third parties. We pay these software vendors to utilise their services.”

“The limited information shared with these platforms is done under strict contractual terms that provide for the highest level of confidentiality, data security, and user privacy.”

A recent push to encourage people to share their HIV status and when they were last tested made no clear mention that the data will be shared with outside companies.

Grindr’s privacy policy warns users that information shared on the platform can be disclosed.

Grindr Founder Joel Simkhai was bought out by Chinese investors last year (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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