Grindr Disables Location Features in Olympic Village for Milano Cortina 2026 to Protect Athlete Safety and Privacy

When the Olympics come around, athletes face a level of global attention that doesn't exist anywhere else — on the podium and off. For gay athletes, especially those who aren't out or who come from countries where being gay is dangerous or illegal, that visibility creates real safety risks.

Grindr shows users who's nearby and how far away they are. In most contexts, that's useful. In the Olympic Village where thousands of athletes are packed into a small area, those same features may become a liability. Someone outside the Village could browse profiles inside it. Distance data could be used to pinpoint someone’s exact location. And simply appearing on Grindr tells the world something about a person's identity that, in more than 60 countries, remains a criminal offense.

Athletes use the app during the Games the same way they use it at home. We're not changing that. But the Village needs different rules.

We first restricted location features at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and continued at Paris 2024. Milano Cortina 2026 will be our third consecutive Games with these protections in place.

Location Restrictions

Explore and Roam let users browse profiles in locations other than where they physically are. During the Games, we're turning these off within Village boundaries. No one outside the Olympic Village will be able to browse or message users inside.

Show Distance displays how far away other users are, often within a few hundred feet. During the Games, this defaults to off for anyone in the Village. Users can choose to share approximate distance, but it won't happen automatically.

Athletes can still connect. They just won't be broadcasting their location to do it.

Free Privacy Tools in the Village

During the Games, everyone in the Olympic Village gets access to features normally behind the paywall:

Disappearing messages delete automatically after they're read.

Unsend removes messages from both sides of a conversation.

Screenshot blocking prevents capture of profile photos and chat images.

Private video, which allows viewing only once, will be turned off entirely within the Village.

Report a Recent Chat lets users flag a conversation up to 24 hours after it ends. Names and photos are obscured during reporting.

Safety Communications

Being an LGBTQ+ athlete comes with challenges most competitors never face, especially for those from countries without legal protections.

During the Games, we'll send users in the Village:

• Weekly reminders about risks specific to the Olympic environment
• Links to our multilingual safety and privacy guides
• [Pending: Resource from the International Olympic Committee]

No Outside Advertising

Users in the Village will only see messages from Grindr for Equality focused on health and safety. No third-party ads.

These protections go live when the Village opens.

We’ve Got Your Back

To the trailblazing athletes heading to Italy: we’re proud to support you and we can’t wait to see you shine.

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