Grindr Responds to Privacy Criticism by Saying It’s a ‘Public Forum’

Gay dating app Grindr, responding to a BuzzFeed report that it sent sensitive user data – including HIV status, location and email – to at least two third-party services, said the data sharing is “standard” in the industry and pointed out the company considers its app a “public forum.’’

Grindr’s privacy dustup – and its “this is how the industry works” response –are likely to be echoed in the coming months as more companies face heightened scrutiny for years-old practices around user data. Facebook’s scandal involving information used by political advertising firm Cambridge Analytica prompted many of the social network’s users to re-examine all the third-party applications they agreed to share data with, and showed how little they knew about the way the information was spread.