Mastodawn

Bruce Plante Mar 10, 2023

This is a "holy shit" story with an emphasis on the holy: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/09/catholics-gay-priests-grindr-data-bishops/

To out priests using Grindr, a conservative group spent "millions of dollars" on mobile app tracking data.

This whole saga has been one of the most illuminating case studies in the privacy harms that can come from "aggregated" and "de-identified" data being freely sold in the marketplace.

Catholic group spent millions on app data that tracked gay priests

The group used the data to find clerics who used Grindr and other dating and hookup apps and shared their work with bishops, a Post investigation has found.

The Washington Post

Kevin M. O'Brien 🔰Mar 9, 2023

@kashhill So they will hunt down gay priests but protect child predators?

Ásthar con té 🍵⛤ (Elle/They)Mar 9, 2023

@kmobrien @kashhill "I can excuse predatory priests but I draw the line at harmless gay priests"

author_is_stribika Mar 23, 2023

@asthargf @kmobrien @kashhill Oh no, what if it's both?!

Agitatra 🚲🐻🌿🇪🇺🇺🇦Mar 10, 2023

@kmobrien @kashhill They protect only the ones that molest little girls, because these child molesters are straight. Its another thing when they molest little boys.

Rachel Rawlings Mar 9, 2023

@kashhill Interesting these men are called "philanthropists" and not "moneyed vigilantes."

Agitatra 🚲🐻🌿🇪🇺🇺🇦Mar 10, 2023

@linuxandyarn @kashhill I was also surprised by the term, I would have been more inclined to think of denunciation.

Realworldrj Mar 9, 2023

@kashhill spending millions on a consulting company to spy on people instead of spending on the poor is what Jesus would have done.

Str8nger Mar 10, 2023

@Realworldrj @kashhill 🎯

That Anonymous Coward Mar 9, 2023

You'd think with all the possible damage washington would have gotten its .... together and blocked this.
But then they think it'll never happen to them...

Someone wanna grab the Grindr data for CPAC?

Vitor Py Mar 9, 2023

@kashhill This is so fucked up. Religion is a sad, terrible delusion. And instead of accepting death as a fact, people will turn the whole world into a hellish nightmare just to protect their delusions.

zeppelintours Mar 9, 2023

@kashhill I've been thinking about this phenomenon ever since I read this jaw-dropping story in the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html

Opinion | Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy

What we learned from the spy in your pocket.

The New York Times

meat Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill online anonymity is more about protection from investigation and harassment than it is about sharing unpopular or 'dangerous' ideas.

this sadly does not surprise me at all.

savaran Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill I feel like they shouldn’t use the word philanthropy if the people are spending the money with an ulterior motive of ruining people’s lives

GTinNC Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill If this isn’t an argument to #TaxTheChurches, I don’t know what is.

Steve Nordquist Mar 10, 2023

@GTinNC Probably something that says churches and the right to assemble are disjoint. Tbf I thought it was a about privacy rather than gay taxes, but haven't unpaywalled the article which is about journo sources infiltrating intolerance, not the "rat-king like" app ad market nee https://gizmodo.com/grindr-shared-location-data-report-1848867990 .

Grindr's Data-Sharing Problem Is Bigger Than Grindr

A new investigation revealed the gay dating app has been pawning off the locations its queer clientele via brokers for years.

Gizmodo

Eva Chanda Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill The Grand Tracking Inquisitor!

Led By Gilded Fools Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill Sex advice columnist Dan Savage used to write a column called "Youth Pastor Watch" that addressed the same subject, but using public databases of police reports. This takes it a next level.

(1) https://www.thestranger.com/collections/21584246/youth-pastor-watch

(2) https://www.thestranger.com/blogs/2009/08/18/2065910/youth-pastor-watch

(3) https://www.thestranger.com/religion/2016/04/29/24022546/the-return-of-youth-pastor-watch

Youth Pastor Watch - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper

Articles about Youth Pastor Watch, The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper

The Stranger

Angry Centrist Mar 10, 2023

@MHowell @kashhill I'd say this is quite a bit different than the Youth Pastor Watch thing, because anyone LEGALLY using hookup apps like grindr is an adult. (yeah I realize there are undoubtedly teens who lie at sign-up.) Priests using grindr are more likely seeking adult, consensual situations.

Angry Centrist Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill Funny that WaPo didn't enable comments on that particular article... can't IMAGINE why.

Bill Lamb Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill In the end all religions are mostly horrible.

Kyozou Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill Maybe they should’ve used that money to identify pedophiles, instead.

Alex Ball Mar 10, 2023

@kyozou they’d have to care about children, first

Kent Brewster Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill oh good grief. "The use of data is emblematic of a new surveillance frontier in which private individuals can potentially track other Americans’ locations and activities using commercially available information. No U.S. data privacy laws prohibit the sale of this data."

The Neuss Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill @washingtonpost A weird tale is more fun when it rhymes while it's spun.
https://theneuss.com/f/group-creeps-priests-online-to-see-whos-gay-during-free-time

Group creeps priests online, to see who's gay during free time.

In Colorado, there lived a group Of Catholics who thought they'd snoop. They bought mobile app tracking data To catch priests on gay dating feta. Their nonprofit was called Catholic Laity And Clergy for Renewal, oh so w...

The Neuss

Adamas Nemesis Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill If you're going to run any kind of online service best not to let any data out at all, "aggregated", "de-identified", or whatever. It's the only way to be sure.

AngrySexagenarian Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill
Wouldn't it be nice if these "concerned" folk cared as much about priests raping children than those having consensual sex...

Garrett Serack Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill Jesus Fucking Christ.

Just what is wrong with these people anyway.

@kashhill I love the part in the Bible where Jesus says "Blessed are those who spend millions to find gay priests, instead of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the imprisoned."

paul Mar 10, 2023

Skyler (Star Group)Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill ugh that is pretty serious
at first i didn't realize the Catholic Church was doing this and thought it was a liberal organization specifically exposing Catholic priests who were preaching homophobic sermons but secretly hooking up on Grindr but wow, that actually is pretty bad, it's basically a church acting like cops

Kinniska Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill so what I’m seeing is that the Catholic Church STILL already knows who the creeper molesters are, but chooses instead to go to a lot of trouble to target adults seeking out adults that are well outside the parishioner flock. Because that makes so much sense.

Jesus on a motorbike. “But we have strengthen the holy church”
You’d do better by NOT protecting the predators. But you’ve been doing that for over a century (that we can firmly document) so I guess… ::ragequit::

Dr Power Nap, DDS ✅️Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill this is magnificently monsterous... almost cartoonishly malevolent...

Boswell Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill "ok peeps so we need to all create grindr accounts, but definitely not because we're gay, it's for the greater good"

Abuela 🪁Mar 10, 2023

For the love of God?

If you’ve given up on feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and showing compassion to the incarcerated, what’s left to spend your money on?

Outrageous disregard for the gospel.

Marcus Marcius Marcellus Mar 10, 2023

@kashhill Rooting for injuries.

Hans Gerwitz Mar 11, 2023

Meanwhile, while everyone is freaking out about "AI": mastodon.social/@kashhill/109995538062824030