Keeping Grindr a safe space is a matter of life and death

From CNET / MSN

It's easy to forget that even in an age of marriage equality, a gay Cabinet secretary and a bazillion seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, LGBTQ people still need safe spaces. All too often, we're reminded why that's the case. Maybe it's a singer using homophobic language at a concert, or something far worse, like a violent mob attacking a pride parade or a gay person getting bashed on the street. Or perhaps it's something in between, like a reporter breaching the privacy of users on a dating app to find gay Olympic athletes for a story. Though it can feel like we're everywhere, sometimes we still need somewhere secure to go.

For decades, gay bars have served as one of those safe places. They aren't just about getting drunk or hooking up, they're refuges from harassment and discrimination, places where you can meet people like you and know you aren't alone. Tragically, even that security can be destroyed, as in 2016 when a terrorist killed 49 people at a gay bar in Orlando, Florida. Still, there's a good reason gay bars and all they offer, from trivia night to drag shows, remain a center of LGBTQ life.

ut as meeting others has largely shifted online for gay and straight alike, establishing safe places on the internet and controlling access to them is much harder to do. At their best, online spaces allow you to interact with people both next door and around the world, and for people who have to hide in the closet at home, they can be a more invigorating experience than the newspaper personal ads and gay phone chat lines of the analog era could deliver. That's only good, though, until you remember that true online anonymity doesn't exist, even when your pseudonym is supposed to be protected by an app's layers of security.

Anyone using the app shares the responsibility to guard users' privacy, and I just wish everyone believed that.

Consider Grindr, the social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people. With its worldwide reach and immense user base (more than 3 million active users), it's one of the most popular ways for gay people to date and (yes) hook up. But it also can be a place to be reminded that other gay people simply exist and an opportunity to connect and chat when it feels like you're the only gay in a hostile homophobic village. And that's precisely why Grindr needs to secure the app for its vulnerable users. It's not just about protecting privacy, it's also about protecting livelihoods in places like Iran, Uganda and Malaysia where LGBTQ sex is illegal and punishable by imprisonment or even death.

Grindr, of course, bears the burden of maintaining user privacy. It's a pledge it hasn't always honored (last year, a study found that Grindr and nine other apps were sharing people's personal information with dozens of digital marketing and ad tech companies without consumers being aware). But anyone using the app shares the responsibility to guard users' privacy, and I just wish everyone believed that.

Just this week, Insider reported that TikTok and Twitter users were tapping the app to find Grindr profiles located in Tokyo's Olympic Village and then post about the content they found. Why? That's not clear. Maybe it was just to see if they were there. Whatever the reason, it's still gross. According to the report, one TikTok video revealed "over 30 full users' faces, with several profiles noting they were there for the Olympics." One Grindr user's profile, which showed his face, revealed that "he was from a country known for anti-LGBTQ politics." Grindr quickly condemned the postings.

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