Tea Dating Advice, a women-focused dating safety application, has reported a significant data breach that exposed personal images and communications of its users, raising concerns about privacy and online safety.
Women’s Safety App Hack Exposes Sensitive User Data
Women’s Safety App Hack Exposes Sensitive User Data
Thousands of images and posts compromised in breach of Tea Dating Advice platform for women.
A recent breach at Tea Dating Advice, a notable women-only dating safety app with 1.6 million users, has resulted in the unauthorized access and theft of approximately 72,000 images. These included sensitive visuals such as women verifying their identities with photo identification, which Tea's privacy policy states should be deleted immediately after authentication.
The breach reportedly affects users who joined before February 2024. In response, Tea announced it is actively collaborating with trusted cybersecurity experts to address the situation swiftly. They also stated that they are taking significant measures to ensure the safety of their community moving forward.
The application, which allows women to perform background checks on men and report concerning behaviors, has gained popularity—and some criticism—for allegedly being anti-men. It aims to safeguard users from potential dangers in online dating by providing tools to verify the marital status of potential partners and prevent "catfishing" scams.
Alongside the initial image theft, Tea recently revealed that an additional 59,000 images that contain posts, comments, and direct messages dating back over two years were also compromised. The company's representatives assured users that the breached photos could not be linked to posts made within the app itself.
The platform, founded in November 2022 by Sean Cook, was developed out of a desire to enhance safety for women in online dating following Cook's observations of his mother's negative experiences with traditional dating apps. Following this incident, there have been questions raised regarding the implications of such platforms and potential risks of defamation impacting men who are discussed in shared reports by women.
Tea's commitment to protecting its users continues in the face of criticism and legal challenges surrounding privacy rights and accountability in the digital dating landscape.
