Dating app Grindr, used by millions of people every day, has been sharing its users' personal data including their HIV status with third parties, an investigation by BuzzFeed News has found. Grindr users, which include gay, bi, trans and queer people, have the option to indicate on their profile whether they are HIV positive or not. Grindr has been sharing people’s HIV statuses and test dates with two companies that help "optimize" the app, called Apptimize and Localytics, BuzzFeed reported. As the HIV info is shared along with GPS data, phone IDs, and email addresses, it makes it possible to link specific Grindr users with their health condition. Perhaps more serious from a systematic standpoint, however, is the unencrypted transmission of a great deal of sensitive data as the report revealed. What makes this particularly egregious is that Grindr has often talked a big game about privacy. In many places around the world Grindr users, primarily gay men rely on that touted privacy as sexual minorities face discrimination and the threat of violence. While sharing information about one's HIV status is voluntary, many users may choose to do so in the interest of transparency with potential sexual partners. There is no reason the app maker has to share this critical information with third parties at least not without the informed consent of the users. Grindr’s chief technology officer, Scott Chen said that Grindr doesn’t sell its user info to third parties. Still, security experts and LGBT advocates told BuzzFeed the…
