Grindr will disable location sharing in Olympic Village to protect athletes’ privacy

Queer dating and hook-up app Grindr has announced privacy and safety related restrictions which will be in place around the Olympic Village. The move is designed to help protect gay participants at the Winter Olympics 2026 “who aren’t out or who come from countries where being gay is dangerous or illegal”.

Location sharing is a key feature of Grindr – helping to facilitate last-minute hookups – but there were concerns about the implications of having large numbers of users packed into a small area. It is an acknowledgement that in Milan this month, “the Village needs different rules”.

This is not the first time Grindr has taken such a move to protect athletes. Back in 2022 location sharing restrictions were put in place for the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the same was true of at Paris in 2024.

In a blog post about this year’s Winter Olympics, Grindr says:

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 offense.

Athletes use the app during the Games the same way they use it at home. We’re not changing that. But the Village needs different rules.

What is planned are not only restrictions on the sharing of location data, but also the introduction of free tool to boost privacy and safety. Grindr explains:

Location Restrictions

Explore and Roam let users browse profiles in locations other than where they physically are. During the Games, we’re turning these off within Village boundaries. No one outside the Olympic Village will be able to browse or message users inside.

Show Distance displays how far away other users are, often within a few hundred feet. During the Games, this defaults to off for anyone in the Village. Users can choose to share approximate distance, but it won’t happen automatically.

Athletes can still connect. They just won’t be broadcasting their location to do it.

Free Privacy Tools in the Village

During the Games, everyone in the Olympic Village gets access to features normally behind the paywall:

Disappearing messages delete automatically after they’re read.

Unsend removes messages from both sides of a conversation.

Screenshot blocking prevents capture of profile photos and chat images.

Private video, which allows viewing only once, will be turned off entirely within the Village.

Report a Recent Chat lets users flag a conversation up to 24 hours after it ends. Names and photos are obscured during reporting.

Grindr is keen to stress to LGBTQ+ participants in the Olympics that “we’ve got your back”. Further measures that back up this claim include:

Safety Communications

Being an LGBTQ+ athlete comes with challenges most competitors never face, especially for those from countries without legal protections.

During the Games, we’ll send users in the Village:

• Weekly reminders about risks specific to the Olympic environment
• Links to our multilingual safety and privacy guides
• [Pending: Resource from the International Olympic Committee]

No Outside Advertising

Users in the Village will only see messages from Grindr for Equality focused on health and safety. No third-party ads.

These protections go live when the Village opens.