Grindr Agrees to £26M UK Privacy Settlement

Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million to resolve a group action in the High Court of England and Wales over data practices before 2020. The company disclosed the settlement in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, while The Guardian reported that about 12,000 UK users had joined the claim. The users alleged that Grindr violated UK privacy law by sharing sensitive personal information with advertising companies. The Guardian reported that the information included HIV status in some cases.

Grindr agreed to pay £13 million by December 31, 2026 and another £13 million by March 31, 2027. The settlement includes no finding or admission of liability. Grindr disputes the allegations but said it recognizes the distress and loss of trust expressed by some users. The company said the case concerned a period before 2020, when Grindr was owned and controlled by Kunlun, and said it has since overhauled its privacy program.

The agreement resolves the lawsuit without deciding whether each alleged disclosure occurred. Grindr says it has overhauled its privacy program since 2020. The size of the settlement shows how much trust and financial risk can attach to health and relationship data held by dating platforms. The payment amount, schedule, covered period and absence of admitted liability are confirmed in Grindr’s SEC filing. The description of the allegedly shared information and the approximate claimant count come from The Guardian’s reporting on the users’ case. The settlement ends the action without a court ruling on the underlying allegations.