Grindr, the gay dating app with more than 3.6 million daily active users worldwide, has been sharing the HIV statuses of its users with two other companies, according to a report by BuzzFeed.
Apptimize and Localytics, companies that help optimize apps, have received some information that Grindr users put in their profiles. This includes a user's HIV status and "last tested date," as well as GPS data, phone ID and email, according to BuzzFeed.
The issue was first identified by the Norwegian non-profit SINTEF.
Grindr, in a statement to BuzzFeed, defended its relationship with Apptimize and Localytics, saying user information is not sold to third parties.
"Thousands of companies use these highly-regarded platforms. These are standard practices in the mobile app ecosystem," Grindr Chief Technology Officer Scott Chen said. "No Grindr user information is sold to third parties. We pay these software vendors to utilize their services."
Apptimize and Localytics did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
HIV activists responded with outrage on Twitter, with some calling on Grindr to pull HIV statuses from the app.
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Read the full BuzzFeed report.
