Popular LGBTQ+ Dating app Grindr has disabled location-based features for users in the Olympic Village of the Paris Games, which began today.
The measures are not intended to prevent athletes from coupling up between sprints, swimming or shot put – rather, they are a safety precaution.
“If an athlete is not out or comes from a country where it is dangerous or illegal to be LGBTQ+, using Grindr puts them at risk of being outed by curious individuals who may try to identify and expose them on the app,” Grindr said.
Grindr has disabled features like “Roam” or “Explore” that allow users to search for and view profiles in a specific location. The “Show Distance” feature is also disabled by default, but users can indicate their approximate distance if they enable this feature.
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Grindr has also introduced a number of other “targeted security measures.” These include disabling screenshots for profile pictures and chats and preventing the sending of private videos.
Olympic Village users can also send unlimited disappearing messages and un-disappear messages that have already been sent. This is normally a premium feature.
A recurring problem
According to Grindr, the measures, which were also introduced during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, ensure LGBTQ+ athletes can “make authentic connections with each other” without having to worry about “curious glances or unwanted attention.”
GriThe NDR’s enhanced data protection measures date back to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, after Daily Beast reporter Nico Hines used the app LGBTQ+ athletes in the Olympic Village. The publisher later removed Hines' article, but the original version may have contained identifying information about some of the athletes.
In another case, TikTok users posted videos at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics using the names and pictures of Olympians' Grindr profiles, Business Insider reported.
In 63 countries, engaging in same-sex sexual activity is a criminal offense. according to the Human Dignity Trust. In some countries it is a crime punishable by death.
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