Grindr has appealed to the New York Federal Court to request that a proposed class action lawsuit against it should be moved into arbitration.
The claim, which was first filed by user Robert Bergeron in February, alleges that the gay dating app illegally shared private information with advertisers. It’s suggested that this information also included sexual orientation and exact geolocation, which could be very dangerous for members that live in countries where the LGBTQ community are not protected.
Grindr has responded by stating that users have agreed to arbitrate such claims in the app’s terms and conditions.
The initial lawsuit argues: “It is physically impossible to read all of these privacy policies prior to indicating consent because [Grindr] will close automatically within that time period, making compliance impossible.
“Plaintiff and users are unable to consent and make an informed choice about using [Grindr] and are not informed [Grindr] sells its most private and sensitive information.”
This case began at the start of the year, after a report from the Norweigan Consumer Council first suggested that Grindr was sharing data with “more than a dozen” advertising firms.
The investigation also accused Match Group’s Tinder and OkCupid of violating GDPR for financial gain.
Grindr was sold to the Los Angeles-based San Vicente Acquisition LLC in June, after US regulators raised concerns about how much user data was potentially being shared with the Chinese government.
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