Ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Grindr has announced a series of privacy and security updates aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ athletes using the app during the Games.
In a blog post published Monday, the company said these measures are designed to safeguard queer athletes — many of whom may come from one of over 60 countries where LGBTQ+ identities are criminalised — and give them greater control over their privacy.
The changes will take effect during the Olympic Games, which run from 6 to 22 February.
Among the key updates:
- Explore and Roam features will be disabled within the Olympic Village. This means users outside the Village won’t be able to browse, view, or message those inside.
- The “Show Distance” feature will be automatically turned off, preventing users from seeing how far away other profiles are — a common privacy risk. Athletes can still choose to share the approximate distance if they wish.
- Premium features will be made available to all users, including: Unlimited disappearing messages, Message unsending, and Screenshot blocking.
Grindr is also disabling private videos entirely — which are usually viewable once and then disappear — to reduce the risk of unauthorised sharing or misuse.
“The Olympic Games bring heightened visibility, which can create real safety risks for LGBTQ+ athletes, especially those who are not out or come from countries where being LGBTQ+ is dangerous or illegal,” said AJ Balance, Grindr’s Chief Product Officer.
“These temporary changes are about reducing that risk and giving users greater control of their privacy while keeping the app available.”
This is not the first time Grindr has implemented Olympics-specific protections. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, a controversial Daily Beast article exposed athletes using Grindr in the Olympic Village, potentially outing them without consent. The article drew significant backlash, with Mic calling it “homophobic” and LGBTQ+ advocacy group Athlete Ally labelling it “as unethical as it is dangerous.” The story was later removed.
Since then, Grindr has introduced tighter privacy measures during both the 2022 and 2024 Games, continuing its efforts to prioritise the safety of queer athletes on the world stage.
