Dating app Grindr is set to disable its location feature within the Milano-Cortina Olympic Village for this month’s Winter Games.
The decision aims to protect LGBTQ+ athletes from “real safety risks”.
The platform, which bills itself as “the world’s largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people”, usually allows users to discover others nearby and see their distance.
Grindr stated that deactivating this functionality is necessary, as in the Olympic context, “those same features may become a liability”.
The company said in a statement: “When the Olympics come around, athletes face a level of global attention that doesn’t exist anywhere else — on the podium and off.
“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 about a person’s identity that, in more than 60 countries, remains a criminal offence.”
According to OutSports, a Winter Olympic record 44 out LGBTQ+ athletes will travel to Italy, where competition gets under way on Wednesday.
Grindr first restricted location visibility at the 2022 Winter Olympics and continued the practice at the summer Games in Paris in 2024.
A private video feature, which allows users to view a video only once, will be turned off entirely in the Olympic Village.
The app will also send athletes weekly reminders about risks specific to the Olympic environment and grant free access to usually-paywalled features, including disappearing messages, the ability to unsend messages and screenshot blocking.
