HUMAN RIGHTS activists condemned gay dating app Grindr today for exposing users' HIV status to private companies.

Peter Tatchell, of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, said allowing private companies access to the HIV status of costumers is "as shocking as it gets."

He said: "It can only add to the anxieties experienced by gay and bisexual men with HIV.

"This is the second data scandal involving Grindr in a week and its users will not be reassured by this latest development."

Grindr’s chief technology officer Scott Chen said sharing data with partners to test and optimise its platform was “industry practice.”

Sensitive data was encrypted when sent and vendors were under strict contractual terms to keep it secure and confidential.

Mr Chen said Grindr is a “public forum” and, “if you choose to include this information in your profile, the information will also become public.”

Grindr users have the option of sharing their HIV status and when they were most recently tested.

The research group which uncovered the scandal, Sintef, expressed concerns that health information combined with other data such as location and email address could result in people being identified.

Mr Tatchell said: "There are still 72 countries in the world that criminalise homosexuality and even more have governments that actively persecute LGBT+ people.

"Security breaches could be exploited to make arrests and by homophobic vigilantes to make violent attacks.
 
"Grindr and similar app providers must urgently audit their data security measures, come clean about any issues and fix them immediately.

“Data protection is the new frontier in the battle for human rights. Software companies that cater for LGBT+ people arguably have a special responsibility, given the potentially risky countries that many of their users live in."