Priest sues Grindr after being exposed, lawsuit says

James Carr, a lawyer representing Burrill, wrote to Grindr last month that as a result of his details being made public, he has “publicly come out as gay,” according to a copy of the letter.

“Forcing this decision out of your hands and putting it in the public domain is reprehensible,” Carr said. Post on Saturday.

Burrill’s resignation made headlines in July 2021, dividing Catholics and reflecting a shift in the traditional power dynamics in the church, with some faithful now in a position to pressure bishops. It also shed light on data privacy issues.

His resignation came at about the same time as PillarThe online newsletter, which deals with the Catholic Church and is not a defendant in the lawsuit, said it had gathered information about Burrill from Grindr that showed he frequented gay bars. The news outlet said it had hired an independent firm to authenticate the information.

The USCCB asked Burrill to resign after receiving his Grindr data from Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal (CLCR), a Denver nonprofit that works to support churches, said Gregory Helmer, an attorney representing Burrill. A USCCB spokeswoman said Post when Burrill decided to resign after allegations of his “inappropriate conduct” came to light.

Jayd Henricks, president of CLCR, wrote in an email to Post on Saturday that the organization had retrieved the data from Grindr to help Catholic bishops “assist their priests and seminarians in fulfilling their priestly vows.” He denied sharing the information with Pillar, which did not disclose its source.

Grindr sold Burrill’s data from 2017 to 2021 to companies and data providers, the lawsuit said. Henricks wrote in a religious magazine First things first Last year, CLCR bought “publicly available data” in the “usual way.” But Helmer hopes to find out in court where the organization got the data.

“We want answers so we can use them as a warning to other Grindr users,” Helmer said.

In June 2022, Burrill’s bishop, William Callahan, appointed Burrill as parish administrator in La Crosse, Wisconsin. But Burrill is still “trying to get back on his feet” after suffering “shame and embarrassment,” Helmer said.

Last month, Carr asked Grindr to compensate Burrill for $5 million. When Grindr refused, Carr said, Burrill filed a lawsuit on July 18, seeking damages and an injunction that would prevent the app from sharing user data without prior notice.

Chris Hoofnagle, faculty director at the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Law and Technology, said most people don’t read companies’ privacy policies, and even when they do, companies tend to be vague about their policies, such as saying they “sometimes” share information about their users. Hoofnagle said some companies could find new customers by buying Grindr data, such as a store that sells LGBTQ+ products.

“There is an illusion of control when users enter personal information into apps,” Hoofnagle said, “and the reality is that there are an incomprehensible number of security breaches, many of which we never learn about because they are undisclosed.”

Anton Dahbura, executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Information Security, said the U.S. government doesn’t have enough data privacy regulations to stop many data sales. Even as some lawmakers push for more protection, Dahbura said the problem is getting worse.

Burrill is not the first person to accuse Grindr of failing to protect user privacy. A lawsuit filed in April accused the app of sharing users’ HIV statuses, and the company’s former chief privacy officer, Ron De Jesus, said last year that he was fired after raising privacy concerns about Grindr.