Jasper Posted March 28, 2019 Posted March 28, 2019 US government panel has informed Beijing Kunlun Tech that its ownership of Grindr constitutes a national security risk Reuters Wed 27 Mar 2019 11.36 EDT Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Limited is seeking to sell Grindr, the popular gay dating app it has owned since 2016, after a US government national security panel raised concerns about its ownership, according to people familiar with the matter. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has informed Kunlun that its ownership of West Hollywood, California-based Grindr constitutes a national security risk, the two sources told Reuters. CFIUS’s specific concerns and whether any attempt was made to mitigate them could not be learned. The United States has been increasingly scrutinizing application developers over the safety of personal data they handle, especially if some of it involves US military or intelligence personnel. Kunlun had said last August it was preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) of Grindr. As a result of CFIUS’ intervention, Kunlun has now shifted its focus to an auction process to sell Grindr outright, given that the IPO would have kept Grindr under Kunlun’s control for a longer period of time, the sources said. Grindr has hired US investment bank Cowen to handle the sale process, and is soliciting acquisition interest from US investment firms, as well as Grindr’s competitors, according to the sources. The development represents a rare, high-profile example of CFIUS undoing an acquisition that has already been completed. Kunlun took over Grindr through two separate deals between 2016 and 2018 without submitting the acquisition for CFIUS review, according to the sources, making it vulnerable to such an intervention. The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Kunlun representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Grindr and Cowen declined to comment. A spokesman for the US Department of the Treasury, which chairs CFIUS, said the panel does not comment publicly on individual cases. Grindr, which describes itself as the world’s largest social networking app for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, had 27 million users as of 2017. The company collects personal information submitted by its users. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/27/grindr-dating-app-sale-us-security-concerns Quote
Guest Posted March 28, 2019 Posted March 28, 2019 So after this, what will the US do about apps like Blued, if military or intelligence personnel use that as well ? I would have thought the way forward was to restrict military use of smartphones when they are in conflict zones or other sensitive areas. I believe the Russians passed such a law recently. A little bit late, as it was in response to mobile phone records which are one of several pieces of evidence allegedly showing direct Russian military involvement in shooting down the Malaysian airliner over Ukraine. Quote
reader Posted March 30, 2019 Posted March 30, 2019 From National Public Radio -- US (29 Mar.) Excerpts from transcript of interview: NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Chris Calabrese of the Center for Democracy and Technology about reports that the U.S. sees a national security threat in a Chinese company owning the dating app Grindr. ILSA CHANG, HOST: Who knew the dating app Grindr could pose a possible national security risk? The Chinese company that owns the dating app is now selling it, after a U.S. government panel ordered it to. Grindr caters to an LGBTQ crowd. People who use it post personal photos, talk about their sexual and gender identities. Many users disclose their HIV status on Grindr. And according to Reuters, which first reported this, U.S. officials believe the Chinese government could end up exploiting that information. To talk about the implications of all of this, we're joined now by Chris Calabrese of the Center for Democracy and Technology. Thanks for coming into the studio today. CHRIS CALABRESE: Thank you. It's my pleasure. CHANG: So I learned that this little-known body inside the U.S. government is what forced the Chinese company Kunlun to sell Grindr. The body's called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which sounds like some character in a sci-fi movie to me. CALABRESE: (Laughter). CHANG: What is CFIUS? What does it have the power to do? CALABRESE: It has the power to do exactly what you just said; it can say to a company, usually before a purchase happens, no, we think there are national security interests at stake here, and we - this sale can't happen. It can also... CHANG: It can just force the foreign company to unwind? CALABRESE: It can force the foreign company - well, it can force the foreign company, and usually, it's before the sale happens because unwinding is expensive. But as you can see here, they also have the power to unwind a transaction after the fact, if you don't go through their process to get your preapproval for a purchase. CHANG: All right. Walk me through what the fears are here. Can you just explain - how could the Chinese government somehow use Grindr to harm U.S. national security interests? CALABRESE: Well, there's a couple of things are worried about; the first is blackmail. I know stuff about you. You're not out, but I know you're gay because you're on Grindr. I know your HIV status. The second one is a little bit more sophisticated. I can use Grindr to actually insert an agent into your life. You're on Grindr looking for a partner, I put a Chinese operative together with you, and that person starts a relationship with you and uses that relationship to exploit you. CHANG: This is like the stuff of spy novels, but these are very real possibilities. CALABRESE: You know, they are, and it all goes to the fact that we're sharing a lot of personal information with third parties, and we trust those third parties implicitly; in cases like this, maybe we shouldn't. And another piece that may or may not be related but I'm almost certain is, is about three or four years ago, the federal government suffered one of the worst data breaches in U.S. history. CHANG: Right. CALABRESE: It was... CHANG: In the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. CALABRESE: That's right. The Office of Personnel Management essentially was breached, was hacked, and what was taken was all of the personnel records of every federal employee - so we're talking of, like, 22 million people - including their background checks, security clearances. John Bolton, the national security adviser, hasn't come out straight out and said it but has sort of implied that they believe it's the Chinese... CALABRESE: China has denied any role in this. But if there's reason to believe that China has very detailed information on federal employees, you can easily imagine that kind of information, combined with the kind of access that you would get using the Grindr app, to really allow some pretty scary espionage and some pretty detailed investigations of things that the U.S. would certainly not want China to know. You can listen to the full interview at this link https://www.npr.org/2019/03/29/708170897/reports-say-u-s-sees-a-national-security-threat-in-chinese-company-owning-grindr Quote
