Grindr Rolls Out New Privacy Rules To Protect Queer Winter Olympians

Grindr Rolls Out New Privacy Rules To Protect Queer Winter Olympians

Even though this weekend's Winter Olympics will feature the highest amount of out queer athletes, we know that there is a whole faction of athletes who remain in the closet. From past Olympics experience, the use of Grindr near or in the athlete's Village can be a bit tricky. Years ago, a reporter created an account on the app to lure and publicly out "straight" athletes who were using the app. Grindr has responded to these issues and, in an attempt to protect gay athletes, will have certain restrictions and new settings at the Olympic Village. Grindr's Chief Product Officer said these temporary changes were to protect athletes in the closet and athletes who are from countries where it is illegal to be gay. Did you know that it is still illegal in about 60 countries to identify as gay? This will be the third consecutive Olympics where Grindr will implement these restrictions.

For starters, the Roam and the Explore features will be shut down. This protects people outside the Olympic Village from being able to view users who are inside the Village. This offers a curtain of privacy. Users will have to go into their settings and opt in if they want distance shown. This is also to curb pinpointing users in areas where they don't want to be discovered. Helpful functions like unsend, disappearing messages, private video, and screenshot protection will also be in full effect. Did you know that unsend deletes messages from both sides of the competition?

In a surprising move, Grindr will limit 3rd party ads for users in the Village. The only pop-ups will be messages regarding Grindr for Equality.

Users in the Village will receive links to multilingual safety and privacy guides, weekly reminders about the risks of the Olympic environment, and in-person and in-app safety resources from the International Olympic Committee.

The TV show Heated Rivalry has certainly put the spotlight on closeted athletes, which is a double-edged sword. More athletes are finding the courage to come out, but there is also an awareness from the straight side. Will these lead to more speculation and entrapment regarding one's sexuality? Many athletes report on the sexual activity that goes on. With all that energy regarding competition, it stands to reason that athletes need to, um, blow off some steam. Everyone will be on high alert for everyone's smallest move.

But kudos to Grindr for protecting our athletes!

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