The sale of Grindr has officially been completed amid ongoing privacy concerns from the US government.
Kunlun Tech, the Chinese former owner of the dating app, has sold its 99% stake for an estimated $608.5 million, to the US-based San Vicente Acquisitions.
The main reason for the sale is the potential threat of Chinese authorities using sensitive data harvested by technology companies against US citizens.
A year ago, the US government questioned whether or not Grindr was a threat to national security and ordered Kunlun Tech to relinquish its ownership of the property.
With 3 million daily active users, the opportunity to collect vast amounts of data is rife. Grindr’s privacy policy states that they collect a wide range of personal data, including message, location information, and even a user’s HIV status, should they wish to provide it.
In terms of ethnicities most at risk of data harvesting, black gay and bisexual men are most at risk as they accounted for the largest number of HIV diagnoses, at 9,807. They are followed by Hispanics (7,436), and then white (6,982), according to the centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
There are also concerns that the data harvesting may also include details of those currently serving as a US Official or in the military.
Kunlun Tech first bought a majority stake in Grindr for $93 million in 2016, and acquired the further shares two years later.
The investment in US technology companies from China has dropped dramatically, from $18.7 billion to just $2.2 billion in two years, and it is widely believed that the drop is owed to the new security concerns from the US.
Read more here.