Grindr, a popular hookup app, has agreed to a significant payout following a lawsuit in the U.K. The lawsuit, filed by London law firm Austen Hays in 2024, accused the California-based company of selling sensitive user information, such as HIV status, to advertisers. Grindr has agreed to pay approximately $48.6 million Canadian dollars to around 12,000 claimants.
The claim alleged that Grindr breached U.K. privacy laws before April 2020 by sharing user data with other companies for financial or commercial gains. This data included details about users’ HIV status, recent testing dates, results, and their use of HIV prevention medication known as PrEP. Users voluntarily provided this information and could choose whether to make it public on their profiles.
According to the lawsuit, this sensitive information was shared with third-party companies like Localytics and Apptimize for targeted advertising purposes, and it could have been further sold to additional parties. Austen Hays emphasized that Grindr, serving the 2SLGBTQ+ community, must be accountable for its handling of user data to restore trust among its users.
Eligible users of the free version of Grindr from 2016 to 2020 may receive £2,167 or $4,050 Canadian dollars each as part of the settlement. The company plans to disburse the settlement in two installments, with the first half to be paid by the end of this year and the remaining amount by March 31, 2027.
Grindr clarified in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the settlement does not imply any admission of liability. Despite disputing the allegations, Grindr acknowledged the concerns and loss of trust expressed by some U.K. users regarding the pre-2020 period. This legal action in the U.K. followed a previous incident where Norway fined Grindr for similar data sharing practices in 2021.
Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd., a Chinese gaming company, previously owned Grindr between 2018 and 2020, holding a majority stake since 2016. The U.S. government mandated Kunlun to sell its ownership due to privacy concerns related to HIV status and user messages. Subsequently, San Vicente Acquisition LLC acquired Grindr for $620 million, a deal approved in 2020.
Grindr, established in 2009, boasts over 15 million monthly active users globally. In the second quarter of 2026, the app reported revenue of $138 million US ($190 million CAD) in its latest investor report.