Grindr is a dating app that is mainly used by gay and bisexual men. This makes the data that the app handles even more sensitive: Just the fact that someone is on Grindr says something about their sexuality. Additionally, location data is also collected. The Norwegian Consumer Association filed a complaint last year because Grindr would share that data with third parties for advertising purposes.
The privacy regulator believes that Grindr should obtain permission from its users to share that data. Users will not have enough control over this. To use the app, they had to agree to the terms of privacy. There was no specific request for permission to share data.
The approach by which the consumer must give permission for everything and not otherwise use the service conflicts with European privacy law, according to the regulator.
Not final yet
The fine is not final yet. Grindr has until February 15th to comment. If the fine remained at € 10m, it would be the highest Norwegian fine for privacy to date.
Grindr has now adapted the way consent is sought. The Norwegian regulator has not assessed whether this new method complies with privacy rules.
