Data Trafficking and the International Risks of Surveillance Capitalism: The Case of Grindr and China

Abstract

This article offers a framework to discuss when a community’s data is moved abroad without their informed consent, a practice I term data trafficking. I analyze Grindr, an LGBTQIA+ dating platform that has changed hands between China and the United States to demonstrate what data trafficking is, how it undermines national sovereignty, and how it erodes human rights. In the United States, corporate policies are the leading indicator for data governance practices, influencing a system known as multi-stakeholderism. In China, forced localization to government servers drives data governance practices. This article extends how we think about transnational consumer data security by examining how weak data security designed to support the growth of Silicon Valley firms amplifies the capacity of extra-territorial data governance practices asserted by the Chinese government.