Grindr Shields Olympic Athletes’ Profiles for Paris 2024

Grindr, the dating app popular among gay and bisexual men, is taking steps to protect the privacy and safety of athletes during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by suspending its “Explore” option within the Olympic Village. This move aims to safeguard the sexual identity of the athletes participating.

For the duration of the 2024 Olympics, Grindr will mask all profiles of Olympic athletes and disable the geotagging feature within the Olympic Village. This decision ensures that the 9,000 athletes residing in Paris will have their privacy protected, preventing any external searches or profile visibility within the designated area.

Although Grindr has not made an official announcement, the dual purpose of this action is clear: to respect the privacy of athletes and protect those hailing from countries where homosexuality is illegal. In previous Olympic Games, Grindr faced issues with the non-consensual outing of athletes. The app, available in 190 countries and boasting 13 million users, has taken these measures to prevent such incidents from recurring.

Outing Incidents in Past Olympics

In 2016, The Daily Beast exposed several gay athletes in Rio by infiltrating Grindr and publishing an article with detailed information about them. The backlash was immediate, leading to the retraction of the article and an apology from the author. Five years later, during the Tokyo Olympics, athletes’ profiles were again made public by users on TikTok and Twitter, complete with screenshots.

Grindr’s Commitment to Privacy

Jack Harrison-Quintana, director of Grindr for Equality, emphasized the app’s commitment during the 2022 Beijing Games: “We want Grindr to be a space where all queer athletes (…) feel confident to connect with another while in the Olympic Village.”

The decision to blur profiles in the Olympic Village for the Beijing Winter Games demonstrated Grindr’s dedication to this cause. Harrison-Quintana reiterated, “We want Grindr to be a space where all queer athletes, no matter where they’re from, feel confident to connect with another while in the Olympic Village.”

While athletes’ profiles will be hidden from outsiders, they will still be able to use Grindr within the Olympic Village as usual during the Paris Olympics!