Grindr has announced it will disable its location feature within the Milano-Cortina Olympic Village for the upcoming Winter Games, citing safety risks for LGBTQ+ athletes.
The dating app, which serves the gay, bi, trans and queer community, typically allows users to see the distance of nearby profiles. However, the company warns that in the densely packed Olympic Village, this could be exploited to pinpoint individuals' exact locations, posing a danger to athletes who are not publicly out or who come from countries where homosexuality is criminalised.
According to OutSports, a record 44 out LGBTQ+ athletes are set to compete in this year's Winter Olympics, which begin on Wednesday. Grindr first implemented this restriction at the 2022 Winter Games and continued the practice at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
In addition to disabling location visibility, Grindr will turn off its private video feature within the Village and provide free access to premium safety tools such as disappearing messages, unsend capabilities, and screenshot blocking. Athletes will also receive weekly reminders about risks specific to the Olympic environment.
The company stated: “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.”
