LGBTQ dating app Grindr enhances privacy features for athletes ahead of Winter Olympics in Italy
LGBTQ dating app Grindr enhances privacy features for athletes ahead of Winter Olympics in Italy
Publish Date: 2026-02-03 07:47:00
Source Domain: www.dailymail.co.uk
Gay athletes competing in the Winter Olympics will be given enhanced privacy features on Grindr to ensure they remain anonymous to the wider public, the LGBTQ dating app has announced.
Thousands of Olympians have descended on Italy this week as the 25th edition of the Games gets ready to officially kick off across Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo on Friday.
There will be 116 medals up for grabs as countries across the globe look to dethrone Norway, who claimed an impressive 37 at the last event held in China in 2022.
But away from the ski slopes and ice rinks, gay athletes in the Olympic Village will be able to hook up without having their identity compromised.
Grindr has announced a swathe of new features that are typically reserved behind a paywall for the Olympians to use, including the ability hide their profile from those using the app outside the Village.
The ability to send disappearing messages which delete automatically after they are read will be granted, while screenshots of profile pictures and images sent on private chats have also been prohibited.
Grindr is boosting privacy features for gay athletes competing in this year’s Winter Olympics
Thousands of athletes have descended on Italy as the Games get ready to kick off this week
‘When the Olympics come around, athletes face a level of global attention that doesn’t exist anywhere else — on the podium and off,’ Grindr said in its announcement.
‘For gay athletes, especially those who aren’t out or who come from countries where being gay is dangerous or illegal, that visibility creates real safety risks.
‘Grindr shows users who’s nearby and how far away they are. In most contexts, that’s useful. In the Olympic Village where thousands of athletes are packed into a small area, those same features may become a liability.
‘Someone outside the Village could browse profiles inside it. Distance data could be used to pinpoint someone’s exact location. And simply appearing on Grindr tells the world something…
