This month, an app called Tea gagged the internet. Thousands of women gathered on it, anonymously spilling their dating life icks and the men who allegedly gave them! This week, the provocative digital space rocketed to the top spot on the U.S. Apple App Store. Then, on Friday, the company behind the app confirmed it had been hacked. The hack accessed thousands of images, including selfies.
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Tea App Releases Message About Viral Hack
The juicy shenanigans went viral when women started spilling TEA on the app. Women started chatting about the app on other social platforms, which led to an influx of people applying to join the online community. With men locked out and the fear of being on the app looming, Tea drew critical attention. Then the hack rumors started! The company dropped a statement, clarifying what happened on Friday.
Tea said that about 72,000 images were leaked online, including 13,000 selfies. Some selfies feature a photo identification that users submitted during app account verification. According to a Tea spokesperson, the hackers also accessed another 59,000 images viewable in the app from posts, comments, and direct messages. The company clarified that no email addresses or phone numbers were accessed. Additionally, the breach only affects users who signed up before February 2024.
“Tea has engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and are working around the clock to secure its systems,” the company said. “At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that additional user data was affected. Protecting tea users’ privacy and data is their highest priority.”
Tea has also said users do not need to change their passwords or delete their accounts, as they’ve secured “all data.”
As mentioned, the Tea app presents itself as a safe way for women to anonymously vet men they might connect with on dating apps such as Tinder or Bumble. The point of it was to ensure that your date is “safe, not a catfish, and not in a relationship.”
“Tea is a must-have app, helping women avoid red flags before the first date with dating advice, and showing them who’s really behind the profile of the person they’re dating,” reads Tea’s app store description.
Tea said in an Instagram post this week that it has reached four million users, and received and reviewed 2.5 million requests to join.
How Did The Data Leak Happen?
Also, 404 Media reported the breach and said 4Chan users discovered an exposed database that “allowed anyone to access the material” from Tea. The app and the breach highlight the fraught nature of seeking romance in the age of social media.
“While reporting this story, a URL the 4chan user posted included a voluminous list of specific attachments associated with the Tea app. 404 Media saw this list of files. In the last hour or so, that page was locked down, and now returns a ‘”Permission denied’” error,” 404 Media reported Friday.
Another statement from the Tea app on Saturday (July 26) said the company has roped in law enforcement and external cybersecurity experts to help with the investigation.
What To Know About The Tea App
Tea founder Sean Cook previously revealed that he founded the company in 2022. He’s a software engineer who previously worked at Salesforce and Shutterfly. His mother’s “terrifying” experiences, which included unknowingly dating men with criminal records and being catfished, influenced him.
In an Apple Store review, one woman wrote that she used a Tea search to investigate a man she’d begun talking to. She ended up discovering “over 20 red flags,” including serious allegations like assault and recording women without their consent. She said she cut off communication. “I can’t imagine how things could’ve gone had I not known,” she wrote.
According to Sensor Tower, a surge in social media attention over the past week pushed Tea to the No. 1 spot on Apple’s U.S. App Store as of July 24. In the seven days from July 17-23, Tea downloads shot up 525% compared to the week before.
Was Tea Invading Men’s Privacy? Possibly.
On Thursday, a female columnist for The Times of London newspaper called Tea a “man-shaming site” after signing into the app. She further complained that “this is simply vigilante justice, entirely reliant on the scruples of anonymous women.” According to AP, she wrote, “With Tea on the scene, what man would ever dare date a woman again?
So, is the Tea app violating men’s privacy, and is it against the law? In 1996, Congress passed legislation protecting websites and apps from liability for content posted by their users. Still, Aaron Minc, an attorney specializing in defamation and harassment, said users can be sued for spreading “false and defamatory” information.
And those cases aren’t a guaranteed win. For example, in May, a federal judge in Illinois threw out an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. According to Bloomberg Law, a man sued after women had slammed him in the Facebook chat group ‘Are We Dating the Same Guy.’
Additionally, state privacy laws are also a concern and can lead to lawsuits against anyone who posts another person’s photograph or personal information in a harmful way. Lawyer Minc said he was not surprised to see Tea get targeted.
“These sites get attacked,” Minc said. “They create enemies. They put targets on themselves where people want to go after them.”
Associated Press’ Barbara Ortutay and Business Writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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