A dating safety app created to help women avoid dangerous men has been hacked, exposing private images, messages, posts and comments of thousands of users.
The app, called Tea, confirmed that hackers gained access to 72,000 images submitted by women, some of which showed them holding photo IDs meant only for account verification. Tea had earlier promised that these IDs were deleted immediately after use.
In a recent statement, the US-based app said that direct messages were also affected. “We’re taking every step to protect this community — now and always,” the company said.
Tea is designed for women to check if a man is married, a sex offender, or using fake photos. It also allows users to warn others about troubling dating experiences, or recommend men with good behaviour.
The company admitted the breach affected members who signed up before February 2024. It added that another 59,000 images, including past posts, comments and DMs from more than two years ago, were also accessed.
Tea’s founder, Sean Cook, said he built the app in 2022 after seeing what his mother went through using regular dating apps. “I was shocked by how easy it was for catfish, scammers and criminals to take advantage of women… and how little traditional dating apps do to protect users,” he told Medium.
Cybersecurity experts have advised users to be alert while the company investigates how much of the data could be leaked. It is still unclear what the hackers plan to do with the stolen content.
Although Tea has become popular among women for its safety features, it has also faced criticism from those who feel it unfairly targets men. Some men have even taken legal steps in the past over claims made about them in similar women-only groups, though such cases have mostly failed in court.
Tea said it has brought in top cybersecurity professionals to handle the situation and has turned off messaging on the app for now.
