GRINDR PRIVACY AND COOKIE POLICY

Effective Date: The earlier of 2022-07-06 or user acknowledgment.

Welcome to Grindr’s Privacy and Cookie Policy (“Policy”). All references in this policy to “Grindr”, “we”, “us”, or “our”, refer to Grindr LLC, its parent companies, and its subsidiaries such as Grindr Canada Inc. This Policy explains how Grindr LLC processes and puts you in control of your Personal Information. At Grindr, “Personal Information” means any information that allows someone to identify, or reasonably link to, you directly or indirectly. When we describe “processing” of Personal Information, we mean how we collect, use, share, and retain Personal Information. This policy covers these activities across all of our services (“Services” or “Grindr Services”). We have included [LEARN MORE] page links that describe additional details you may find helpful.

This policy covers the following Grindr Services:

• The websites https://www.grindr.com and https://grindr.gay (“Grindr Site”),
• The Grindr applications and related features on all platforms (both mobile and web, such as Grindr iOS, Grindr Android, etc.) (“Grindr App” or “App”),
• The website https://grindrads.com (“Grindr Ads”),
• The website https://grindrbloop.com (“Bloop Site”), and
• The website https://blog.grindr.com/ (“Grindr Blog”).

For processing of Personal Information of Grindr employees, contractors, and applicants, please click here to review our related processing practices.

Our Commitment to Privacy. As a global LGTBQ+ social networking application, the Grindr Services allows you to share information about yourself, including sensitive information such as your sexual orientation and precise location, with us, the service providers who help us provide our Services, and other Grindr users. Our goal is to put you in control of as much of the Personal Information that you share within the Grindr Services as possible. We recommend you read this Privacy and Cookie Policy and our Terms and Conditions of Service carefully.  To support our commitment to continued transparency, in addition to regular updates to this Policy, within the Grindr Services you will see occasional pop-up privacy notices meant to help you understand what you are participating in when you choose to use certain features or services.    

Grindr LLC is a U.S.-based Company. By using the Grindr Services, you are transmitting information to Grindr in the United States and its service providers (in the United States and other third countries). If you are a resident of another country, note that the United States and other third countries may not afford the same privacy protections as your country of residence. 

Permissible Age. The Grindr Services are intended only for users who are legal adults, generally eighteen (18) years of age and older. If you are aware that a child or minor has submitted Personal Information on the Grindr Services, please contact us by either using the in-app reporting tool (click here for more information) or by submitting a request outside of your Grindr account by clicking here, so that we can take appropriate action.

California Residents. Please see Your California Privacy Rights to learn about the specific rights you are afforded under California privacy laws.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you use the Grindr Services, we collect Personal Information about you, the majority of which you choose to provide. We may collect data about your interactions, use, and experiences with our Services and receive information from third-parties. [LEARN MORE]

• Personal Information You Are Required to Provide. When you set up an account, we require that you provide limited Personal Information such as email or phone number and date of birth to validate that you are an adult.
• Personal Information You Have the Option to Provide. You have a choice about what Personal Information you provide as part of your “Grindr Profile.” Personal Information which you include in your Grindr Profile is referred to as your “Profile Information” which is shared with other users of the Grindr Services (the “Grindr Community”). For example, you may choose to share location, HIV status, photos and videos. Note, however, that failing to provide certain information may impact the functionality of certain Grindr Services. You may also optionally provide Personal Information to us for feedback and customer support services or when you agree to participate in surveys. Such data varies from survey to survey.
  • A note on location information: We may collect your precise location ("Location") to determine your distance from other users (“Distance Information”). Sophisticated users who use the Grindr App in an unauthorized manner, or other users who change their location while you remain in the same location, may use Distance Information to determine your exact location and may be able to determine your identity. You may choose to hide your Distance Information; however, the Grindr App will continue to sort and display your profile based on your relative distance from other users. Accordingly, even if you choose to hide your Distance Information, others may nevertheless be able to determine your Location. You may also revoke this permission and disable the location services on your device on an iPhone by going to Settings> Privacy> Location Services> Grindr and on an Android device by going to Settings> Location> Grindr> Permissions> Location.
• Personal Information We Receive From Your Device When You Use The Grindr Services. To maintain and improve the Services, we collect Personal Information such as user activity, hardware and software information, cookies, and leverage other technologies such as web beacons, software development kits (SDKs), local storage, and log files. [LEARN MORE]
• Personal Information We Receive From Third-Parties. Grindr collects limited information from third-parties. For example, we may collect Personal Information from payment processors, app usage and website tracking information partners, authentication partners (e.g., Google and Facebook), machine learning partners, and our consent management platform provider.

WHAT WE DO WITH YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

The main reason we use your Personal Information is to enable the Grindr Services, such as providing you with core features of the App, providing you with support, and supporting platform safety. We only process your Personal Information in accordance with specific purposes and legal bases where required. [LEARN MORE]

In general, we use your Personal Information to:

• Provide you with the Services associated with your Grindr account.
• Answer your inquiries and provide you with support.
• Improve our services and support user safety within the App (including machine learning and automated decision-making).
• Protect our interests as a company.
• Allow you to enjoy certain App and Service features (including machine learning and automated decision making - click here for more information).
• Allow third-party ad / marketing partners to use cookies and other technologies for the purposes of serving ads to free users of the Services.
• Conduct surveys or obtain your voluntary feedback about our Services.
• Respond to legal requests from law enforcement agencies, regulators, and other third-parties to comply with “Legal Obligations” (as defined below).

HOW WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

To enable you to make meaningful connections, Grindr allows you to share information about yourself with the Grindr Community and third-parties in connection with our providing you with the Grindr Services as described in this Policy. In general, we share your Personal Information in the following ways:

• The Grindr Community. The Grindr App is intended to be a safe space where you can discover, navigate, and interact with others in the Grindr Community. As part of the Services, Grindr enables you to share your Profile Information, location, and other information with the Grindr Community.
• Third-Party Partners: Grindr shares Personal Information with a number of third-party partners to bring you the Grindr Services, such as Service Providers (e.g., Sift for fraud prevention and PartnerHero for customer support), Ad / Marketing Partners help facilitate advertising experiences (e.g., AppLovin), and Other Partners that support the Grindr Services and with whom you may provide Personal Information to directly (e.g., Apple for chat back up and Stripe for payment processing). For the avoidance of doubt, Grindr only shares HIV status and Last Tested Date with necessary Service Providers such as companies that host data on our behalf (i.e., Amazon Web Services) or help in processing data access requests you initiate (i.e., PartnerHero) - we do not share this information with any advertising companies. [LEARN MORE]
• Business Transactions. If another company acquires, or plans to acquire, our company, business, or assets, that company will possess the Personal Information collected by us and will assume the rights and obligations regarding your Personal Information as described in this Policy.
• Legal Obligations. We may access, preserve and disclose Personal Information to investigate, prevent, or take action in connection with: (i) enforcement of the Grindr Terms and Conditions of Service; (ii) claims that any content or behavior violates our policies or the rights of third-parties; (iii) requests for customer service; (iv) technical issues; (v) protecting the rights, property or personal safety of Grindr, its users or the public; (vi) lawful legal requests including subpoenas, warrants, or court orders or in connection with any legal process; (vii) establishing or exercising our legal rights or defending against legal claims; (viii) tax and accounting purposes; or (ix) as otherwise required by law, collectively “Legal Obligations”.

HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We retain your Personal Information for no longer than is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected or as otherwise permitted or pursuant to Legal Obligations or pursuant to the Grindr Terms and Conditions of Service and/or the Grindr Community Guidelines. We also retain a device identifier (i.e., IDFV and Android ID) and limited log information for up to a period of two years following account deletion to support internal reporting, metrics and statistics. Personal Information may be retained for longer periods of time if required for legal or security purposes. For example, Grindr may retain some account information, a device identifier (i.e., IDFV and Android ID), and limited log information for accounts that have been banned or that violate the Grindr Terms and Conditions of Service and/or Grindr Community Guidelines. In some circumstances, Grindr may also retain chat messages used for reporting violative behavior resulting in an account’s ban. [LEARN MORE]

Server-side and Local Storage: Grindr is transitioning to the storage of chat messages on its servers to support the use of the Grindr Services including enhanced safety features and an improved user experience across multiple platforms and devices, which will result in a longer retention in compliance with our data retention policy. However, chat messages, including images and recordings, may still be retained locally on user devices and may still be retained on the recipient’s device even after the information is no longer available on Grindr’s servers. 

YOUR CHOICES AND RIGHTS

You can make the following choices and exercise your rights regarding your Personal Information held by Grindr:

• Correct Profile Information. By creating an account, you are providing us your Personal Information for your public Grindr Profile. You can review and change your Profile Information at any time by accessing the “Edit Profile” section of the App.
• Delete Account and Related Information. You may delete your account and related Profile Information at any time. After deletion, your Personal Information will be deleted from Grindr’s systems in accordance with this Policy.  There are circumstances where some or all of your information may be retained after your request (such as for Legal Obligations, moderation review, dispute resolution, and other matters in accordance with this Policy). For more information on how to delete your account, click here.
• Promotional Emails. You may choose to allow us to use your email address to send free newsletters, surveys, offers, and other promotional materials related to Grindr and/or the Grindr Services, as well as targeted offers from third-parties.  You can stop receiving promotional emails by following the unsubscribe instructions in emails that you receive. If you unsubscribe from receiving such promotional emails, we may still send you service-related communications, and our applications will continue to deliver you in-app messages.
• Behavioral Advertising On Websites, Third-Party Platforms, and the Grindr App. You can opt-out of the sharing of your Personal Information (or the “sale” of your Personal Information as the practice may be referred to in some jurisdictions) with our Ad / Marketing Partners. Please note that opting-out of behavioral advertising does not mean that you will not receive advertising while using the free version of Grindr Services. It will, however, exclude you from interest-based advertising as provided by the applicable choice mechanisms. [LEARN MORE]
• Third-Party Tracking. You may opt-out of Google Analytics' collection and use of your Personal Information on the Grindr Site by following the instructions here to download an opt-out browser add-on.
• Access & Portability. You may request that we provide you with information about our processing of your Personal Information and provide you with a machine-readable copy of your Personal Information. We may not be able to provide some elements of information if that information would also reveal Personal Information about another person or if we are legally prevented from disclosing such information. For more information on how to download your Personal Information from Grindr, click here.
• Restrict Processing. Under certain circumstances, you may limit the way we process your Personal Information (e.g., through controls provided by your device’s operating system, like “Location” (defined below) access, Location granularity, and opt-ing out of the use of your Ad ID for behavioral advertising).
• Withdraw Consent. You may withdraw consent that you have previously given us at any time. Revocation of your consent will only apply to future processing activities and will not apply retroactively. To learn more about the processing activities where Grindr relies on your consent, refer to our Legal Bases. [LEARN MORE]
• Object to Processing. Where your jurisdiction’s law allows, you may object to us relying on our legitimate interests as the reason for why we process your Personal Information. 

You can visit our Privacy Help Center to learn more about our features that support your privacy and choices. To exercise your choice and rights or to make a request outside of your Grindr account, click here. Statistics pertaining to Grindr’s processing of access, erasure and opt-out requests can be found here.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

At Grindr, we take the privacy and security of your Personal Information seriously. Our cybersecurity team actively works to maintain the integrity, confidentiality and availability of the Grindr Services. Our policies and protocols are focused on protecting your Personal Information. We consistently strive to improve our defenses in the ongoing battle against threat actors. That said, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is fully secure, and Grindr cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information. In the event that we are required by law to inform you of any unauthorized access to your Personal Information, we may notify you electronically or in writing in accordance with applicable law.

HOW TO CONTACT US OR FILE COMPLAINTS

Contact Information. Grindr welcomes your comments, questions, or complaints regarding this Privacy and Cookie Policy, our use of your Personal Information, or our response to your requests regarding your Personal Information. Please contact us by email at privacy@grindr.com or by postal mail at: Grindr LLC, Attn: Privacy Office, PO Box 69176, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

Contacting our DPO and EEA Representative. Individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK) also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in the EEA Country where they reside or work, or where the alleged infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“GDPR”) took place.  You can find information about your data protection regulator here. Individuals in the UK can lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Individuals in Switzerland also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. For complaints from individuals in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland that cannot be resolved with Grindr directly, Grindr will cooperate with EEA, UK, and Swiss authorities and will implement the advice they provide with respect to such unresolved complaints.

If you are based in the EEA or UK or have GDPR-related inquiries, you may contact our EEA and UK Representative by submitting your request or inquiry to the postal address listed here for your country of residence.

You can also submit a request to contact Grindr’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) through our website here.

Where necessary, we may request specific information from you to verify your identity prior to processing your request.

POLICY CHANGES

The latest version of the policy available at https://www.grindr.com/new-privacy-policy/ will govern our use of your Personal Information. Grindr may revise this policy from time to time. If Grindr determines, in its sole discretion, that the changes we make to this policy are material, we will notify you in advance (e.g., within the App or via email).