Shares in social networking platform Grindr (GRND) fell on Wednesday after claims that short-video platform TikTok breached the EU’s privacy rules by tracking a particular user’s activity on the LGBTQ+ dating app.
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Austrian advocacy group None of Your Business alleged that TikTok used mobile marketing analytics platform AppsFlyer to access data on the user’s usage of Grindr and Microsoft’s (MSFT) LinkedIn without permission. The group called on Austrian authorities to penalize the companies and order them to desist from such practices.
Grindr Faces Complaint on Top of UK Privacy Lawsuit
The complaint marks the latest challenge for Grindr, a rival to Tinder (PC:TINDR), following a class-action lawsuit filed against the social network in the UK in April last year by hundreds of its users. The users accused Grindr of sharing their private information, including their HIV status, with third parties for commercial ends, without first getting their authorization to do so.
However, a Grindr spokesperson at the time denied the allegations, emphasizing that the social networking company has never disclosed user-reported health data for “commercial purposes” and has never profited from such information.
TikTok Faces Pressure in the U.S.
For TikTok, the allegation comes at a time when U.S. authorities are forcing ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, to relinquish majority control of the U.S. subsidiary of the business to American investors. Authorities cited concerns about national security for the move, which is still ongoing and continues to be a source of contention between the U.S. and China.
Grindr currently boasts almost 15 million users and recently saw its shares plummet after a $3.46 billion take-private deal by two of its board members collapsed.
Is Grindr a Good Stock to Buy?
Across Wall Street, Grindr’s shares continue to carry a Strong Buy consensus rating based on four Buy recommendations issued by analysts over the past three months.
Moreover, the average GRND price target of $22 implies more than 64% upside from the current trading level.
See more GRND analyst ratings here.