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Grindr security flaw exposes user location data

the breach put more than three million daily users at risk

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Grindr, social media app, gay news, Washington Blade

(Logo courtesy of Grindr)

More than three million of Grindr’s daily users were temporarily put at risk because of a major security flaw in the app that was exposed by a third-party site.

C*ckblocked, a now-defunct site that allowed Grindr users to view who blocked them by entering a Grindr user name and password, was able to access user information from Grindr’s Application programming interface (API). The information included email addresses, deleted photos, personal messages and the location of users.

Trever Faden, founder of C*ckblocked, told NBC that it would be easy for anyone to access a user’s private information.

“One could, without too much difficulty or even a huge amount of technological skill, easily pinpoint a user’s exact location,” Faden told NBC. 

In a separate security issue, Faden claimed that Grindr users’ location, which must be inputed directly into the app and not via a third-party site, was not encoded and could be accessed by anyone monitoring public online traffic.

Faden emphasized that the ability to find a user’s location was “a feature, not a bug.”

NBC reports that two independent cybersecurity researchers confirmed the security flaw.

After Faden informed Grindr of the security issues, Grindr blocked the flaw that allowed third-party sites like C*ckblocked to receive data.

Grindr released a statement advising users not to use their username and password for other sites.

“Grindr moved quickly to make changes to its platform to resolve this issue. Grindr reminds all users that they should never give away their username and password to any third parties claiming to provide a benefit, as they are not authorized by Grindr and could potentially have malicious intent,” the statement reads.

However, Grindr denied that user location isn’t encoded.

“Grindr is a location-based app. Location is a critical element of our social network platform. This allows our users to feel connected to our community in a world that would seek to isolate us. That said, all information transmitted between a user’s device and our servers is encrypted and communicated in a way that does not reveal your specific location to unknown third parties,” Grindr’s Chief Technology Officer Scott Chen told the Huffington Post. 

The company also released a statement on Twitter to inform users that the problems have been addressed and to be safe using their service.

The flaw is similar to the one in the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, which allegedly exposed the personal data of 50 million users.

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Hungary

Hungarian authorities lift Budapest Pride ban

Country’s new government took office last month

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Budapest Pride participants march over the Erzsebet Bridge in Budapest, Hungary, on June 28, 2025, despite an official ban. The country's new government will allow this year's Budapest Pride march to take place without restrictions. (Courtesy photo)

Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the annual Budapest Pride march to take place.

“The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a Budapest Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Politico.

Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.

Hungarian lawmakers last year passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.

More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in last year’s Budapest Pride parade. The event became one of the largest protests against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government since he took office in 2010.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021.

The EU on May 29 announced it will release more than €16 billion ($18.59 billion) in funds to Hungary that it withheld while Orbán was in office.

The Budapest Pride march will take place on June 27.

“We will march freely in fresh air for our rights, for the democratic Hungary,” said Budapest Pride on its Facebook page.

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Colombia

Claudia López comes up short in Colombian presidential election

Former Bogotá mayor would have been country’s first lesbian head of government

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Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López speaks at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute's International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. on Dec. 7, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López on Sunday finished fifth in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election.

López, a centrist who ran as an independent, received 225,517 votes. This figure is .95 percent of the total votes cast.

López was the Colombian capital’s mayor from 2020-2023. She was a member of the Colombian Senate from 2014-2018. López, whose wife is outgoing Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano, would have become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she would have won the election.

The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored López in D.C. in 2024.

“We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin,” she told the Washington Blade during an interview. She hadn’t yet declared her candidacy, and did not specifically discuss her plans to run.

Runoff to take place June 21

Abrelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who has praised U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on Sunday finished first with 43.74 percent of the vote. Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact party, came in second with 40.9 percent of the vote.

Neither men received a majority of votes. A runoff between them will take place on June 21.

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Ghana

Ghanaian lawmakers approve anti-LGBTQ bill

Measure that would criminalize allyship awaits president’s signature

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Ghanaian flag (Public domain photo from Pixabay)

Ghanaian lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that would, among other things, criminalize LGBTQ allyship.

Reuters reported MPs approved the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, in a voice vote after parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee backed it.

MPs in 2024 approved a similar bill, but it faced legal challenges and then-President Nana Akufo-Addo didn’t sign it. Lawmakers last year reintroduced the measure after President John Dramani Mahama took office.

The bill awaits his signature.

Rightify Ghana, a Ghanaian LGBTQ advocacy group, in a series of social media posts notes MPs passed the bill days before the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty will take place in Accra, the country’s capital.

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