Tea - a dating app exclusively for women, has just confirmed that their system was hacked, leading to a leak of nearly 72,000 user images. Of these, about 13,000 photos are selfies or identification documents uploaded by users to verify their identities, the rest are photos from posts, comments or private messages.
According to the company, the incident only affected accounts registered before February 2024. Tea confirmed that there was no contact information such as leaked emails or phone numbers. However, the image data was spread on the 4chan forum and spread rapidly before the original link was removed.
As soon as the incident was discovered on July 25, Tea hired an independent cybersecurity professional to handle it. The company said it has increased security measures and sent direct warnings to affected users. Despite claiming that the system is now safe, Tea still faces criticism regarding its ability to protect personal data.
Tea was launched in 2023, featuring a model that allows women to share anonymous reviews about their ex- date, combined with tools to check phone numbers, search for photos and verify identities. The app quickly attracted millions of users, becoming the most downloaded free app on the US App Store in July.
However, Tea's anonymous operating model also causes controversy over privacy, the risk of slander and spreading false information. After the leak, many opinions criticized Tea not only for lack of security but also for the conflict between the message of "protecting women" and the fact that their own data was leaked.
