Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal is a Denver-based conservative NGO that, according to its bylaws, is committed to improving the condition of the church by identifying its “weaknesses.”

To this end, the movement bought from advertising brokers all possible information about users of dating apps popular with members of the LGBT community. So, it turned out that Grindr collected data about users’ devices, their location, provider, and other personal data. All this “Update” subsequently (comparing the data) transferred to specific churches where gay priests serve in order to remove them.

So far, only one resignation among the clergy is known for sure due to the “Renewal” action. However, according to the Washington Post, confessors who find themselves in the base of the organization may be deprived of promotions or retire early. The publication claims that the movement spent at least $4 million. Asked about the ethics of the incident, a spokesman for the movement said that user data is used by corporations, “so why can’t the Church use it.” Representatives of the dating apps, in conversation with reporters, said that they made changes to the privacy policy back in 2020, and deeply condemn the homophobic actions of the Update.