Dating safety app Tea disables messaging following cyber hack

Women’s dating safety app Tea has temporarily disabled its direct messaging feature following a significant cybersecurity breach that exposed thousands of images, posts, comments, and private messages. 

The US-based app, which boasts 1.6 million users, confirmed the expanded scope of the hack in a recent statement.

Initially, the breach, revealed over the weekend, was understood to have compromised approximately 72,000 images, some of which included sensitive photo identification used for verification purposes, despite the company’s privacy policy stating such images are “deleted immediately” after authentication.

However, the ongoing investigation has uncovered that direct messages were also accessed. “As part of our ongoing investigation into the cybersecurity incident involving the Tea App, we have recently learned that some direct messages (DMs) were accessed as part of the initial incident,” the company stated.

Tea allows women to conduct background checks on potential partners, including checking for marital status or registered sex offender status, and to anonymously share “red flag” or “green flag” behaviors of men they have dated. This controversial feature, while designed for safety, has also drawn criticism for being “anti-men.”

The company assured users that its team is “fully engaged in strengthening the Tea App’s security” and will be offering free identity protection services to affected individuals. The breach impacts members who signed up before February 2024. This incident comes amidst a recent surge in the app’s popularity, raising serious concerns about data security for its user base.