Grindr to pay £26 million to settle lawsuit after allegedly sharing users’ HIV status

Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that the gay hookup app shared users’ personal information, including HIV status, with third parties, the BBC reports.

Mashable first reported that Grindr did this in 2018, based on an initial investigation from BuzzFeed News. Soon after that report was published, Grindr told Axios it would stop sharing HIV status with third parties.

In April 2024, UK law firm Austen Hays sued Grindr on behalf of thousands of UK users, claiming that the app breached the country’s privacy laws by sharing sensitive information with third-party vendors prior to 2020. In April 2025, Austen Hays served Grindr’s U.S. offices. By June 2025, over 11,000 claimants signed up, according to the firm.

In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Sept. 2, 2026, Grindr stated that it resolved the class action, and that it occurred “when Grindr was owned and controlled by the Chinese conglomerate Kunlun.”

“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 statement reads.

The filing goes on to state that six years ago, Grindr was sold to new owners and appointed new management, with the company going public two years later.

“Since 2020 Grindr has overhauled its privacy program with a keen focus on the unique needs of its community. Grindr is and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices,” Grindr stated in the filing.

Grindr has agreed to pay £13.0 million to claimants by Dec. 31, 2026, and £13.0 million by March 31, 2027.

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