Top U.S. Catholic Church official resigns after cellphone data used to track him on Grindr and to ga

[SunSeeker]

5. Yeah, they must have been tipped off by someone about him.

Apparently they got the data from Grindr and were able to determine it was him by location data. They wouldn't have purchased the otherwise anonymous data from Grindr if they didn't already know what they were looking for.

Basically, a Catholic blog, the Pillar, hired experts to review the data and outed him. From the article:

“A mobile device correlated to Burrill emitted app data signals from the location-based hookup app Grindr on a near-daily basis during parts of 2018, 2019, and 2020 — at both his USCCB office and his USCCB-owned residence, as well as during USCCB meetings and events in other cities,” the Pillar reported.

“The data obtained and analyzed by The Pillar conveys mobile app date signals during two 26-week periods, the first in 2018 and the second in 2019 and 2020. The data was obtained from a data vendor and authenticated by an independent data consulting firm contracted by The Pillar,” the site reported. It did not identify who the vendor was or if the site bought the information or got it from a third party.

The Pillar story says app data “correlated” to Burrill’s phone shows the priest visited gay bars, including while traveling for the USCCB.