Following the sale of Grindr to Chinese tech company Kunlun in 2018, concerns over users’ security have grown and even resulted in the US government demanding the app be sold back to an American buyer by June 2020.
But former employees of the world’s largest gay hookup app suspect the Chinese government has already taken advantage of its newfound proximity to sensitive data, a.k.a. dick pics.
LA Magazine reports:
Most employees admit that Grindr’s data files may have already been intercepted by the Chinese government—and if they were, there wouldn’t be much of a trail to follow. “There’s no world in which the People’s Republic of China is like, ‘Oh, yes, a Chinese billionaire is going to make all this money in the American market with all of this valuable data and not give it to us,’” one former staffer says.
Related: Gay guys list the Grindr profile quotes that turn them off
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Former employees also note that internal concerns over user privacy have eroded under the app’s new ownership, with the increasingly straight top brass focusing on user engagement and cutting costs at the expense of ambitious projects like implementing end-to-end encryption.
“It wouldn’t be hard at all for a government to scrape data on Grindr that reveals identities and location,” said Bryce Case Jr., Grindr’s former head of information security.
Adding to security concerns are reports of corporate dysfunction at the company, with the former head of communications, Landen Zumwalt, comparing the scene to the Trump administration:
“There was this small group of people inside Grindr who wanted to leave, but we were too fearful of what might happen if we did. I used to balk when I heard that from Trump people, and I still do, but that was a reality I was living with day-to-day. I left because I didn’t want to be their Sarah Sanders anymore.”
Related: 5 ways to become a Grindr Justice Warrior for non-toxic community & dating
And what does the company’s founder and former-owner, Joel Simkhai, think of all this since his decision to sell to Kunlun?
LA Mag spoke to an inside source who said he’s “heartbroken.” And rich; very rich.
“He wanted to stay in West Hollywood, but he doesn’t have any social capital anymore,” the source said. “He’s rich, but that’s it. So he’s been hiding in Miami.”
Read the full article here.
Catholicslutbox
The founder has actually been hosting “parties” for fit white instagram “celebs.”
Best way to be included in those “parties” when you look like he does is to fund them.
winemaker
Another reason to boycott china! These dirty rotten no good ‘commie’ bastards and definitely no friends of the USA have made us look like a fool. Time to get tough on these no good commie bastards. And the dick that sold this to china, should be imprisoned for life for treason and have hit nuts tied off with bull castrating bands.
rustyiam
“ Social capital “ lol only in la la land could such a phrase be taken seriously!
tf3.0
When the political winds shift and the pendulum of tolerance swings back in the other direction…
When the government starts showing up to our doors or jobs with our name and sexual positions…..
we will all know it was Grindr.
jayceecook
Your ignorance is showing.
Chrisk
I feel so so sorry for the former owner of Grindr. It really does sound like he’s heartbroken as he’s counting his money and getting invited to a A list parties with hotties in Miami..
ShiningSex
wasn’t Miami (South Beach) one of the highest in STDs?
lze
thanks for your daily articles and newsletters! been a great source of news that i’m interested in and that’s relevant to me ?
Chrisk
Wasn’t it just last year that their CEO was talking about his traditional views on marriage and how they fired their own newspaper that reported his views. Jesus.
Gary Q VV
Wow, Joel Simkhai – guilty of selling out to the Chinese. He’s exposed himself as a slim-bucket trader for the megabucks he got, with no consideration for the Grindr community. And oh!… “LA Mag says he’s heartbroken”… what a joke!
Bjarne Henriksen
Who-EVER thought that selling a gay hookup app with explicit content to a Chinese tech company was a good idea????
Get off it and get someone to get a new one going!
Vince
Jeez. It’s not like there’s not a thousand out there already. I admit though. I do like their lay out. Clean and functional. Scruff is probably their only real competitor.
ShiningSex
Grindr is disgusting anyway. Sounds like a lot of STDs being thrown around.
Just trashy. Go to a club, a party, get friends to hook you up, be more social and not just drinking and whatever else. There are plenty of ways to meet up with someone. You know what you’re getting and the risk you’re taking with apps.
MBNH
According to the CDC Miami is not even in the top 20. As far as States goes the top are all red States mostly in the south:
Four of the top five states with the highest rates are in the South. The Top 5 states with the highest STD rates are:
Alaska
Mississippi
Louisiana
South Carolina
Alabama
To put these high rates in perspective: for the top three worst states, over 1% of the population has an STD.
Jeiki
Sleezy people will always be sleezy, ShiningSex. I actually happened to meet my fiance on Grindr and regret nothing.