Grindr Shares User Info, HIV Status With Two Companies

Grindr, a gay-dating app, has been sharing users’ HIV status with two other companies, according to a report by BuzzFeed News. Apptimize and Localytics reportedly “help optimize apps” and receive information that users “choose to include in their profiles,” including their HIV status and the date of their last HIV test. That information is sent along with their “GPS data, phone ID, and email,” according to Norwegian nonprofit SINTEF. “Thousands of companies use these highly-regarded platforms. These are standard practices in the mobile app ecosystem. No Grindr user information is sold to third parties. We pay these software vendors to utilize their services,” Grindr Chief Technology Officer Scott Chen told BuzzFeed News in a statement. Apptimize and Localytics did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment, but Chen claimed that the information shared with the companies is under “strict contractual terms that provide for the highest level of confidentiality[.]”