'Grindr utilizes the privacy by design framework, and our privacy policy details how Grindr uses the data that it receives and the options available to users. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard all followed the guidance. military that they ban TikTok, a popular video app made by Bytedance, a Chinese company, from being installed on government-issued phones, saying it posed a security risk. The Department of Defense last month recommended to the branches of the U.S. 'They should be the ones to decide what they want to do with it.' 'Suspicious foreign connections'

'It should belong to us, to the people involved in it, the people who are sharing their personal data,' Crastes said. It told Eberlein, 'Bumble is a US company and there are currently no requirements under US law for us to provide this information to you.'Ī law professor specializing in data protection law told NBC News Bumble was entering 'shaky territory' in declining to provide the data.Īnother European user of Grindr who spoke to NBC News said he had to pass several obstacles to gain access to his personal information, such as sending over a 'high-resolution copy of a government-issued ID or passport' and a 'clear photo' of himself holding a piece of paper with his email address. The popular dating app Bumble, which markets itself as letting women 'make the first move,' told Eberlein it couldn't find her account, then seemed to indicate it had found the account but declined to provide data. So law or no law, if your future livelihood as a business depends on the government's happiness with the way you behave, you're gonna turn over that information.' 'The other thing we know is that China is a top-down authoritarian country. 'Chinese law requires a Chinese company to share any information that it has with the Chinese government if it's asked for that information for national security reasons,' Demers said.

Foreign ownership matters when it comes to the type of information that may wind up in government hands. The popular dating app Grindr, which advertises itself as the 'largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people,' is owned by the Chinese gaming company Kunlun Tech. It has, however, expressed concerns about Chinese-owned apps. The Justice Department declined to discuss any specific apps. 'If I'm starting a lure operation, for instance,' he said, 'I can find the kind of person I think that you will like and I will have them approach you.' He added that an app user could even be approached with threats of blackmail.

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