Locals, advocates react to Grindr data sharing of HIV information
The same-sex dating app Grindr is facing heavy criticism for its data sharing with third parties. There is outrage after it was revealed, the app shared user’s sensitive information including their HIV status with third-party companies.
“I don’t know if I want that much information for me out there”
That’s how Chris Villa originally reacted when he was encouraged by friends to join Grindr. That hesitation has turned into outrage, after Grindr admitted to sharing user’s sensitive information, including their HIV status with third-party companies.
“Them doing this is disgusting…it’s an invasion of privacy.”
Grindr defended itself saying users had the option not to supply that information. Thomas Tarr, director of client development with the Desert AIDS Project says it’s important for users of any app to be aware of what they share.
“People may have signed the user agreement or acknowledged the user agreement that the depth of the data that was being shared, they may not have realized what they were doing,” he said.
Tarr says if a user doesn’t want to share their HIV information online, don’t provide it. He said the data sharing by Grindr is unfortunate, especially when there is still a stigma associated with the disease.
“We’ve seen the gambit of a time when people have struggled to get even fair medical treatment and they were stigmatized and treated unfairly,” he said.
Villa said he has publicly disclosed he is HIV positive, and has no problems doing that, but says he fears other users who may face stigma. He said he’s done with Grindr.
“I will take my profile offline as soon as this interview is over with.”
Amid backlash, Grindr said it will stop sharing its users’ HIV status with other companies, and changed its policies.
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Noticias en español: Telemundo 15
