Grindr changed its policy on sharing users’ HIV info with third parties, but the company said this wasn’t a security breach like Facebook’s. The information was shared, not sold and even though the information that was shared was encrypted, this could still be a HIPAA violation.
The dating app shared the information with two outside companies that helped Grindr test its performance, according to Grindr’s chief technology officer who spoke to the Los Angeles Times.
Grindr’s spokesman said although it does share some user information with advertisers, HIV status is not among the content users include in their profiles that is distributed. The company also defended what it had done by saying that what it shared is information displayed publicly on profiles.
Grindr was founded in 2009 by Joel Simkhai and has more than 3 million users. Simkhai sold a majority stake in the company last year to Kunlun Group Ltd., a Chinese gaming company, and stepped down in January when he sold Kunlun his remaining shares in the app.
— David Taffet
