The Journal claims that national security officials have also indicated concerns about the issue. In that case, it was alleged that data from Grindr regarding Reverend Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill was obtained by a broker and then passed on to a Catholic news website. Grindr’s issues with selling potentially identifiable information gained particular attention in July when a senior Catholic priest who used the app was forced to resign after being outed based on Grindr data. In 2018, it was alleged that Grindr had been sharing the HIV status of users with other companies, while in 2020 it was alleged that Grindr, along with dating apps including Tinder and OK Cupid, were selling user data to third parties for advertising information. This is not the first time Grindr has been accused of sharing data. The data did not contain personal information such as names or phone numbers but is said in some cases to be detailed enough to infer hookups between users based on device proximity and provide clues to identities such as workplaces and home addresses. However, Grindr cut off the location data available to ad networks two years ago. The report says the information has been for sale since at least 2017 and that historical data may still be obtainable.
A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that the movements of users of the gay dating app Grindr were collected from an advertising network and made available for sale.