Grindr pays £26M to settle a 2024 UK lawsuit that alleged it shared users' HIV status with ad firms, in breach of UK law (Julia Kollewe/The Guardian)

Grindr has agreed to pay £26m to settle a UK lawsuit alleging that it shared users' personal information, including their HIV status, with third-party advertising firms. The lawsuit, brought by law firm Austen Hayes on behalf of over 11,000 UK users, claimed that Grindr breached UK privacy laws by allowing ad firms access to sensitive information.

According to MyJoyOnline Ghana, the settlement includes no admission of liability and relates to "historical data practices" before 2020, when Grindr was owned by the Chinese firm Kunlun.

The claims alleged that Grindr shared sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes, breaching UK privacy laws. Grindr will make two £13m payments to settle the claims, with the first payment due by 31 December and the second by 31 March 2027, as stated by MyJoyOnline Ghana. The company disputes the allegations but acknowledges the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its UK users regarding the pre-2020 period.

The settlement brings an end to a two-year legal battle that began with a claim filed at the High Court of England and Wales in April 2024, as reported by Guardian Health. Grindr's US offices were served with the lawsuit in April 2025. The company, now US-owned, has resolved the class-action lawsuit with no findings or admission of liability.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, MyJoyOnline Ghana, Mashable, Guardian Health — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.