The WSJ is among outlets reporting that Grindr User Data Has Been for Sale for Years, noting: “The information was available for sale since at least 2017, and historical data may still be obtainable, the people said. Grindr two years ago cut off the flow of location data to any ad networks, ending the possibility of such data collection today, the company said…” and “National-security officials have also indicated concern about the issue: The Grindr data were used as part of a demonstration for various U.S. government agencies about the intelligence risks from commercially available information, according to a person who was involved in the presentation.”
Rightfully so, many people fear hackers may steal their PII from their service provider, but who needs a data breach when the app provider themselves is selling user\’s personal information in the interest of corporate profits.
In America we haven\’t even touched the level of data privacy and data governance that the Europeans have with their sweeping GDPR mandate of 2016. California has enacted CCPR and CCPA and a few other states are making or looking to make similar moves, but the US does not have a national law guiding data. Industry will demand it to help navigate their own data privacy practices and to insure against lawsuits.