Dating app Grindr accused of misusing gay man medical report

A gay man accused the dating app Grindr of misusing his medical report for commercial benefits without his consent. Grindr is a US-owned dating and online meeting app for gays, bisexuals, and queer people.

The accuser has filed a civil complaint in the UK High Court against Grindr for allegedly misusing his HIV-positive status for personal gain. He claimed that Grindr used his personal medical information like a “piece of meat.”

He also accused Grindr of violating UK data protection laws by disclosing sensitive user information to other parties for commercial benefit without his consent.

*A guy man accused Grindr of misusing his HIV report with advertising companies*

The victim gay claimed that after Grindr disclosed his HIV report, he started receiving advertisements for HIV treatments on the platform and other social media sites. He also said he became upset at this illegal action of Grindr. However, he has not revealed his identity for legal reasons.

The gay man is among approximately 1,300 people who have also accused dating app Grindr of misusing their personal information. They had already filed a lawsuit against Grindr through UK-based law firm Austen Hays in the London High Court in April 2024.

Austen Hays demands compensation for the damages done to victims people by Grindr in the lawsuit. They claim that Grindr shared data relating to the sex lives and sexual orientation of Grindr users.

We have filed a claim with the High Court this morning against #Grindr.

The claim is generating widespread media coverage today including this piece from the @BBCNews online.#grindrlawsuit https://t.co/IWtFBNMmNi
— Austen Hays (@AustenHays_) April 22, 2024

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According to this lawsuit, Grindr also allegedly leaked information about the ethnicity and HIV test dates of their users. They shared all this data with advertising companies, including Localytics and Apptimize, as third parties to use in creating targeted ads.

Chaya Hanoomanjee is the chief lawyer of this lawsuit. She claimed in a lawsuit that victim users endured severe distress due to Grindr’s violation of their fundamental rights. They had fear, embarrassment, and anxiety and went through mental suffering.

Hence, Chaya demands fair compensation for the suffering of the victims. Before this lawsuit, Norwegian data protection authorities had fined Grindr 6.5 million euros. This fine was due to Grindr’s illegal sharing of user data with other parties for commercial purposes.