US to force Chinese tech company to sell its shares in Grindr by next year
Beijing Kunlun Tech bought 60 per cent of the gay hook-up app in 2016
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
The US has told a Chinese tech company it must sell its Grindr shares by June next year.
Beijing Kunlun Tech bought 60 per cent of the hook-up back in 2016 for $93 million but the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CIFUS) blocked the deal to protect ‘national security’, according to Reuters.
Now, Kunlun has reportedly reached an agreement to sell their shares of the app by June 2020 and said it would not transmit any sensitive information to China.
If the tech company fails to sell the app by the date, it would sign the app over to a trustee under terms of the agreement with CFIUS.
Privacy International, a UK-based rights group, told CNN: “As government officials – including US military and intelligence services officers – may be Grindr users, the US government is right to be concerned about the possibility of a foreign government gaining access to the most intimate aspects of their lives.
“However, it is equally concerning that Grindr users from any country and background are at the mercy of a government, be it the Chinese of the US government.”