U.S. orders Chinese owners to sell Grindr dating app

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Grindr is about to come under new ownership, but not by choice.

The United States agency that reviews foreign investments in US companies, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), has told Grindr’s Chinese owners, Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd, that it must divest its ownership of Grindr, according to Reuters. Kunlun has reportedly already begun the sale process by soliciting interested investors and competitors.

The CFIUS did not state a reason for this order. But in recent years, CFIUS has been focused on privacy concerns and how foreign companies would treat personal data. U.S. senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal also sent a letter to Kunlun asking how it would protect users’ privacy after the firm acquired Grindr in 2016. Read more…

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