Do you know that America and China clashed over a gay dating app. There is a popular gay dating app in China- Grindr. This app was launched in 2009. America had banned this app. The Grindr app was then removed from everywhere in the US, including the App Store.
Was China collecting HIV data?
Reports suggest that dating apps contain a lot of sensitive data. From message, location to selfie picture. But Grindr had more data than that. The Grindr app was even sharing the HIV status of users with outside companies. Reports suggest that Chinese firms have a history of sharing data with the Chinese Communist Party government. For this reason, the US banned the Grindr app due to security concerns.
America had this fear
The US had questioned many Chinese apps even before banning this app and has also blamed Chinese hackers for trying to hack US government websites. The US was afraid about the Grindr app that if sensitive data reaches China, then senior officials of the Chinese army and navy would have many information. China will have data on their sexual preferences, up to HIV, and it can blackmail them to get sensitive information related to US security.
Chinese tech companies have been on the US radar
Grindr was not the first app that was banned by the US. Chinese telecom company Huawei was also not allowed by the US to expand the network due to security reasons. Earlier in 2018, the US blocked MoneyGram from acquiring Ant Financial, an online payments company owned by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.