16 votes

Should Grindr users worry about what China will do with their data?

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  1. patience_limited
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    This question is of a piece with other Tildes conversations about data privacy and ownership. Grindr has the potential to give the Chinese state comprehensive lists of people potentially subject...

    This question is of a piece with other Tildes conversations about data privacy and ownership.

    Grindr has the potential to give the Chinese state comprehensive lists of people potentially subject to persecution; data privacy rights are essential to protect their lives. The end of the article notes Grindr's stated technologies for protection and compliance with U.S. law, but even if the data is secure at rest, having access to the technical details of the mobile and web applications creates opportunities for compromise.

    There are arbitrary risks of access by an authoritarian government which does not recognize privacy or free speech/association rights, and is increasingly intolerant of any visible, organized faction which isn't state-approved.

    While China has cultural traditions of greater tolerance for gay sexual activity than in predominantly Christian nations, the enormous emphasis on social conformity in all spheres of life has generated conflict, oppression (including an official psychological disease-based model for homosexual orientation which wasn't rolled back until 2001, with involuntary conversion treatments still prevalent), and surveillance.

    Aside from the risks to Chinese LGBTQ residents, China has a history of strategic data collection which could be used for blackmail and extortion of closeted people.

    6 votes