Grindr Being Sold After Parent Company is Labelled “National Security Risk”

Popular gay dating app Grindr is being sold after the U.S. government raised concerns about the Chinese parent company, reported Reuters.

Gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech is seeking to sell the app after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) labelled the company’s ownership a “national security risk,” though specific concerns were not mentioned.

Kunlun bought 60 percent stake in the app for $93 million three years ago and acquired the remaining 40 percent in January 2018. However, they failed to submit to a CFIUS review.

Following the purchase of the company, privacy concerns were raised by Democratic Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal after it was revealed the app shared data, including the HIV statuses of its users, with third-party companies.

The senators wrote a letter to Grindr in April 2018 demanding answers regarding the company’s protection of user privacy.

“Grindr and those with whom it shares its users’ sensitive information has an obligation to both protect this data,” the letter read, “and ensure users have meaningful control over it.”

Now, Markey and Blumenthal have praised the CFIUS for its decision to label the app a security risk.

“CFIUS made the right decision in unwinding Grindr’s acquisition,” the two said in a statement. “It should continue to draw a line in the sand for future foreign acquisition of sensitive personal data.”