China has had access to Grindr user data for months

The Grindr soap opera continues in its wake. And each piece of information that is known is more worrying than the previous one. If weeks ago we knew that the United States was forcing the sale of the gay dating application to its owner China for security reasons, now it is shown that the request was not random. And it is that, as confirmed by Reuters, the Chinese engineers who now manage the application would have had access to the data of the social network itself.That is, a private information of Grindr users

The news emerged at the beginning of May, when US security launched the order to Kunlun, the company that now owns the application Grindr, for assuming a risk to the privacy and security of the country Or at least that was said at the time without paying attention to more reasons than the Chinese origin of the company that now maintains Grindr. However, the issue goes beyond the confrontation between the United States and China, and is that there is evidence of Beijing engineers accessing the application data.

According to Reuters sources, by taking over Grindr in 2018, Kunlun gave several Chinese engineers access to data such as messages and profile information such as the HIV status of American users Something that was decisive for the United States to force the sale of the application with the aim of not being in Chinese hands.

Of course, Reuters clarifies that, after its investigation, cannot affirm that these data have been misused. Apparently the access of engineers focused on taking full ownership of the social network and making technical and management changes. However, it is still a problem for security and privacy, according to the United States. And it is that, a company that owns and develops applications, should not have had a slip like this, considering the consequences of it.

As it may be, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States set the June 2020 deadline for Grindr's change of ownershipAt the moment Kunlun has already proposed the application to sell and is listening to different offers. If the sale deadline for the social network is not met, Kunlun will have to sign a trust for Grindr.Although everything indicates that the sale will end up taking place before the given date.

Grindr a danger to the United States?

The Grindr app has a lot of private information from millions of users around the world. And it is that it is the best-known dating application for the gay community. In it, users post profile photos, but also descriptive texts with all kinds of data. Profiles can even be detailed with sensitive information about the user's HIV status. In addition, it has a chat tool where intimate photos and messages with any information can be shared.

Up to here everything is the usual in a social network to flirt. The problem is that Grindr is so widespread that it is used by the military and people associated with the United States government. In this way, China could have accessed the private data of US intelligence personnel or soldiers, with the consequent risks to state security that this could entail.

Everything points to the fact that the access given by Kunlun to Chinese engineers would have had to do with technical issues of the application, but the sensitive data they have been able to access is reason enough to want to force the sale of the application. Preferably in non-Chinese hands. Bids and potential buyers are unknown at this time