Grindr and Enhanced Privacy for Athletes at the Paris Olympics

When the Olympics come around, Grindr isn't just there to watch from the sidelines. We’re in the game, with athletes in the host city continuing to use the app the way they do at home and everywhere else—to see who’s around, check out the locals, arrange meetups, and more.

If an athlete is not out or comes from a country where being LGBTQ+ is dangerous or illegal, using Grindr can put them at risk of being outed by curious individuals who may try to identify and expose them on the app.

That’s why, at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, we made the decision to disable location-based features within the Olympic Village and other athletic sites. It was our way of ensuring that LGBTQ+ athletes could connect with each other authentically without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention.

And we’re doing the same at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this year. Here’s our game plan:

Disabling Location-Based Features 

We're turning off features like "Explore" and "Roam" within the Olympic Village. The "show distance" feature will also be turned off by default, but users can share their approximate distance if they decide to turn it on. Our goal is to help athletes connect without worrying about unintentionally revealing their whereabouts or being recognized.

Empowering Users with Control 

Here are some of the additional safety and privacy features we’ll be enabling for users in the Olympic Village to give them more privacy controls and peace of mind:

• Send unlimited disappearing messages and unsend messages after they're sent—regardless of whether you’re a premium or free user. 
• Disable screenshots for profile images and media in-chat.
• Private Videos are disabled within the Olympic Village.
• Access the ‘Report a Recent Chat’ feature in Settings to report any concerns within 24 hours, along with our other enhanced security features. We protect your privacy by keeping user details confidential (profile names and photos are obscured).

Providing Targeted Safety Resources 

Being an LGBTQ+ athlete comes with its own unique set of challenges, especially for those who come from places that lack basic rights and protections for our community.

That’s why we’re taking the additional step of sending targeted safety resources and information, including weekly messages reminding users that they may face danger while using the app in the Olympic Village and sharing links to our multilingual safety resources.

Showcasing Our Values 

The only ads that will appear on Grindr to those in the village during the Olympics will be advertisements from Grindr for Equality promoting health & safety resources. You won't see third-party advertisements—only Grindr for Equality public service announcements to help keep users informed and safe.

We've got Your Back

To the trailblazing LGBTQ+ athletes heading to Paris, we can't wait to see you shine.

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