LA MAGAZINE - Nov 7 - In 2016 when a largely unknown Chinese company dropped $93M to purchase a controlling stake in Grindr, the news caught everyone by surprise. Beijing Kunlun and Grindr were not an obvious match. In the spring of 2018, Kunlun was notified of a U.S. investigation into whether it was harnessing Grindr's user data for nefarious purposes. Then, in November last year, Grindr's new, Chinese-appointed, and heterosexual president, Scott Chen, ignited a firestorm among the app's mostly queer staff when he posted a Facebook comment indicating he is opposed to gay marriage. Now, sources say, even the FBI is breathing down Grindr's neck, reaching out to former employees for dirt about the demographics of the company, the security of its data, and the motivations of its owner. "The big question the FBI is trying to answer is: Why did this Chinese company purchase Grindr when they couldn't expand it to China or get any Chinese benefit from it?" says one former app executive. "Did they really expect to make money, or are they in this for the data?" The U.S. gave Kunlun a firm June deadline to sell to an American suitor. Grindr founder Joel Simkhai, who orchestrated the sale to Kunlun, declined to comment for this article, but one source says he's heartbroken by how everything has gone down.
253 posts categorized "Grindr"
What Does Kunlun Want With Grindr?
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Interview With BHOC Director Dan Wohlfeiler
OPW INTERVIEW - Oct 29 - TellYourPartner.org is a new STD prevention tool launched by Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC). It allows users to anonymously text or email a sexual partner that they might be at risk of an STD. We have interviewed BHOC director Dan Wohlfeiler about how dating apps can help stop the spread of record high STD infections among their users.
What dating apps have signed up to assist?
Grindr includes the link to TYP in its sexual health FAQs. Daddyhunt is currently designing new reminders to get regular sexual health check-ups, and what tests those should include. GROWLr, Grindr, Adam4Adam, and Daddyhunt have incorporated suggestions on profile design related to sexual health options.
How are they working with TYP, and BHOC?
BHOC works closely with apps to help customize HIV and STD prevention strategies. We've worked with them to design profile options that help users exchange information about whether or not they are taking Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), have an undetectable viral load, and/or prefer to use condoms. This helps users make informed choices, and importantly, promotes norms about taking active steps to promote sexual health. BHOC has worked with apps to help users sign up for automatic testing reminders at their choice of three or six-month intervals. Based on app owners' requests, BHOC also developed an extensive sexual health information resource guide, and continues to update it regularly. We've also worked with apps to help inform users about outbreaks. We're also partnering closely with Grindr to promote home-based testing. We have also partnered with apps to produce public service announcements, and are developing a clearinghouse of campaigns for public health organizations to share. This will reduce their need to invest in developing new creative, freeing up more funds for ad placement.
What would you like to see dating apps support TYP and BHOC?
One key strategy is to regularly and consistently promote getting tested, and let people know about TYP and the other resources that BHOC has available. Our research shows that app users look favorably on apps that take proactive steps to support their health, so it's a win-win for the industry and for public health. Profiles should have options to enable users to exchange clear information about sexual health strategies. Dating apps can also show support by promoting our digital anti-stigma campaign, NiceAF.org, and by offering discounted ads for public health departments and non-profit organizations, all of which have extremely limited budgets.
How is BHOC funded at this stage?
BHOC has been funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc., Google, Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, and private donations. Additionally, our public health partners and apps have dedicated considerable time and energy in helping obtain and provide input from their members and users that guide our work. We're particularly grateful to those apps that have made changes in their platforms, such as profile options and testing reminders. They serve a life-saving role in the same way as banking curves on a freeway reduces automobile accidents. Once they're in place, they provide a huge benefit to the health of the entire community.
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Grindr Harassment Case Won't Get Supreme Court Review
BLOOMBERGLAW - Oct 7 - Matthew Herrick, a Grindr user, won't get to argue to the U.S. Supreme Court that the dating app should be held liable for claims stemming from a fake profile that allegedly led hundreds of men to his home. The high court denied Matthew Herrick's petition to review a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling tossing his allegations that the app lacked safety features to prevent fake profiles, and that it doesn't warn users the app could be used to harass them.
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Top Dating Apps Worldwide for September
REPUBLIC WORLD - Oct 6 - Tinder was the most downloaded app in the online dating category during September 2019, according to research firm Sensor Tower. Tinder had close to 5.5M installs in September, resulting in a total of 4% increase from the same period last year. Badoo was the second most installed dating app worldwide. Tantan, MeetMe, and Happn rounded out the top five most installed dating apps worldwide for the month. Here is the full list of top 10 dating apps.
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Children Victims of Sex Crimes Linked to Dating Apps
SKY NEWS - Sep 17 - Children as young as six years old have been sexually groomed or assaulted after contact with adults on 18+ dating sites. Dating companies must do more to keep children off their sites. It is really easy for children and young people to be able to download sites like Tinder or Grindr onto their smartphones. Simon Bailey, chief constable of Norfolk police and national lead on child protection, said current verification systems were simply not robust enough. Tinder said it takes its duty of care seriously. "Tinder is for users 18+, and we use a network of industry-leading moderation tools - and spend millions of dollars annually - to prevent and remove minors from our app," said the app's spokesperson. The UK government's £30M boost to tackle online child exploitation will include more resources for the UK's Child Abuse Image Database (CAID), a resource that provides law enforcement agencies with tools to search seized devices for indecent images of children.
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Racism on Grindr Is Bad for the Brain
OUT.COM - Sep 16 - A new study shows that racism on dating apps does real harm to mental health. The research is the result of a survey of ~1K men on Grindr. Researchers learned that race-based sexual discrimination was significantly associated with lower self-esteem and, in turn, lower life satisfaction. The data suggest that Latino, Middle Eastern, Indigenous/Pacific Islander, and multiracial participants experience significantly less discrimination than Asian and South Asian participants, which is consistent with other studies.
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Grindr User Takes Stalking Case Against App to High Court
LAW360.COM - Aug 15 - Matthew Herrick, who claims Grindr was negligent in failing to stop his ex-boyfriend from using the dating app to stalk and harass him, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Second Circuit ruling dismissing his lawsuit, claiming Grindr should not be protected as a publisher under the Communications Decency Act. He has filed a petition seeking to revive the case, in which he accuses the app of failing to prevent the harassment despite nearly 50 reports with the company.
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Grindr and Romeo Can Expose User Locations
FAST COMPANY - Aug 8 - Researchers from the cyber-security company Pen Test Partners found that Grindr, Recon, and Romeo apps allow users to share their general location by displaying their distance from each other. Anyone with basic computing skills could use that information to determine another user's exact location using a method known as trilateration. The researchers created a tool that faked their own location and did all the trilateration calculations automatically, in bulk, allowing them to generate maps of precise user locations for thousands of individuals at a time.
by Michael Grothaus
See full article at Fast Company
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China's Kunlun to Relaunch Grindr IPO
REUTERS - July 28 - Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun is relaunching Grindr's IPO process after it said a U.S. national security panel had dropped its opposition to the plan. Beijing Kunlun was preparing for an IPO (IPO) of Grindr in September, but the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), which reviews deals for potential national security concerns, intervened. At the request of U.S. officials, Kunlun that month agreed to sell the dating app. Grindr will be listed on a stock exchange outside China. Beijing Kunlun acquired a majority stake in Grindr in 2016 for $93M and bought out the remainder of the company in 2018.
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Can Grindr Survive? Q&A With Grindr's Former Staff Writer
NPR.ORG - July 28 - Once a mainstay of queer culture, gay dating app Grindr is slipping at representing all aspects of LGBTQ people. NPR's Scott Simon speaks to journalist Mathew Rodriguez about why. He is a former staff writer at Grindr's own news site, Into.
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Grindr Wanted to Make the World Better for Queer People. Then a Chinese Company Bought It
BUZZFEED NEWS - July 18 - Over the last 18 months, Grindr has faced a federal investigation, layoffs, mismanagement, and internal turmoil. Now the app is looking for a new owner. "There was a sequence of unfortunate events that exposed cultural differences, lack of strategic clarity, and internal angst between those who were gay and straight," said one former employee. "And that's what Grindr still is today." However, Grindr said in a statement that its "significant growth" from 3.3M to ~4.5M daily active users was a sign of its "hard work and cooperative efforts of the entire team." Many of Grindr's missteps over the last 18 months can be traced back to the decisions made around its sale to Kunlun Group. Just two years earlier, Grindr had been a steady and profitable 8-year-old company hoping to shed its image as a cisgender gay men's hookup app to become an all-encompassing LGBTQ-focused media destination. But Scott Chen, the new president, chose to focus on the company's hookup past rather than a three-pronged pitch around the main app, Into, and Grindr for Equality that showed Grindr could be a one-stop shop for "everything gay."
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10 Years of LGBT Love: What's Really Changed?
BBC - July 5 - The London Pride parade will take place on Saturday 6 July in central London, followed by Black Pride on Sunday 7 July in Hackney. While plenty of people head to Pride to celebrate, recent news events, including the attacks on a lesbian couple on a London bus, show why Pride is still so important for the community. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots - the ceremonial beginning of the LGBT rights movement - and the 10-year anniversary of Grindr. "Online dating and hook-up apps have been an absolute win for the LGBT community," says relationship expert Dr Darcy Sterling. One recent US study suggests that two-thirds of LGBT couples meet online. Another important shift has been the demise of gay bars and LGBT spaces. In just over a decade, from 2006 to 2017, the number of bars, clubs and pubs for LGBT people in London dropped from 125 to 53. Racism within the LGBT community is another issue that is starting to be talked about more openly. Last year, Grindr launched a campaign, Kindr, encouraging its users to be nicer to each other. The legalisation of same-sex marriage in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014 - along with ~20 other countries between 2009 and 2019 - has seen tens of thousands of same-sex couples getting hitched.
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Grindr Says It Acted Aggressively in the Case of a Client Who Was Stalked by an Ex
NEW YORK TIMES - July 2 - In Mr. Herrick's case, Grindr worked closely with law enforcement and took extensive steps to delete and ban fraudulent accounts, including investigating hundreds of email addresses, profile names and accounts; conducting voluntary daily searches; and searching account profile content for any potential reference to the physical addresses, phone numbers and other relevant information identified by Mr. Herrick and/or law enforcement.
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Half of Dutch Young Adults Use Dating Apps
NLTIMES - June 25 - Nearly half of Dutch between the ages of 18 and 34 are active on dating sites or apps like Tinder, Happn and Grindr. Just over half of all Dutch think that getting a date online is just as normal as using more traditional methods, according to a survey among 1K Dutch people by research agency Ipsos, and researched by Rutgers and the Volkskrant. In total, one in five Dutch have an online dating profile. Tinder is the most popular dating app, with 13% of Dutch using it, followed by Happn with 3% and Grindr with 2%.
by Janene Pieters
See full article at NLTimes
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Lebanon's Decision to Block Gay App Slammed by Amnesty
ALBAWABA - June 4 - Lebanon's decision to block Grindr was slammed on Wednesday by Amnesty International as "a deeply regressive step, and a blow" for the human rights of the local LGBTI community. The app was blocked following an order by the country's telecommunications ministry issued on Friday. A decades-old law in Lebanon punishes sexual relations "contrary to nature" with up to one year in prison.
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Grindr's IntoMore Magazine Looses Millions of Visits
THEGAYUK - May 28 - After the effective disbanding of its editorial team, Grindr's online magazine, Into has lost millions of visitors. Into was the world's most read LGBT+ news site, topping ~7.5M hits per month according to SimilarWeb, however after it was announced that the site’s editorial team had been let go, the site has lost over 7M monthly visitors.
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Lebanon Blocks Grindr in Latest Attack on LGBT+ Community
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK - May 28 - Grindr has been blocked for most users in Lebanon, sparking concern over a widening crackdown on the LGBT+ community in the country. Lebanon has traditionally been seen as more forward-thinking with regards to LGBT+ rights in comparison to the rest of the Middle East. But despite some gains in recent years, the community still faces widespread discrimination.
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Grindr's Data Misstep and Scramble to Make up
REUTERS - May 22 - Early last year, Grindr's Chinese owner Beijing Kunlun Tech gave some Beijing-based engineers access to personal information of millions of Americans such as private messages and HIV status, prompting U.S. officials to ask it to sell the dating app. After taking full control of Grindr in January 2018, Beijing Kunlun Tech stepped up management changes and consolidated operations to cut costs and expand operations in Asia. In the process, some of the company's engineers in Beijing got access to the Grindr database for several months. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a government panel that scrutinizes foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, worried that Grindr's database may include compromising information about personnel who work in military or intelligence. China's foreign ministry said it was aware of the situation with Grindr and urged the US to allow fair competition and not politicize economic issues. Grindr hired a cyber forensic firm and a third-party auditor at CFIUS’s behest to report on its compliance and to make sure the data was secure. Kunlun kept trying to salvage the Grindr deal until as recently as last week, when it said it would sell it by June next year.
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