Dating safety app Tea suffers major data breach

A popular US-based dating safety app designed for women, Tea Dating Advice, has confirmed a significant data breach, compromising the privacy of thousands of its 1.6 million users.

The app, which allows women to vet potential partners and share anonymous feedback, revealed that hackers gained “unauthorised access” to a substantial number of sensitive user images, posts, and direct messages.

The breach, which primarily impacts members who joined before February 2024, saw approximately 72,000 images stolen. Disturbingly, some of these images included women holding photo identification for verification purposes, despite Tea’s privacy policy explicitly stating such images are “deleted immediately” after authentication.

In a further admission, Tea also confirmed that an additional 59,000 images from the app, containing posts, comments, and direct messages dating back over two years, were accessed. While the company stated that the initially breached photos “can in no way be linked to posts within Tea,” the subsequent disclosure of accessed communications raises significant concerns about the extent of the data compromise.

Tea Dating Advice has gained considerable traction for its unique features, enabling women to check for marital status, registered sex offenders, and use reverse image searches to combat “catfishing.” A key, and often controversial, aspect of the app is its “red flag” and “green flag” system, where women can share information about men they have dated.

Sean Cook, the software engineer who founded Tea in November 2022, stated he was inspired to create the app after witnessing the vulnerabilities women faced on traditional dating platforms. However, the app has also faced criticism, with some arguing it fosters an “anti-men” environment and infringes on privacy.

This sentiment echoes a recent lawsuit against Meta, the owner of Facebook, regarding statements made in a similar “Are We Dating the Same Guy” chat group, though that case was dismissed.

Tea has stated it “acted fast” and is collaborating with “trusted cyber security experts” to address the breach, asserting, “We’re taking every step to protect this community – now and always.” BBC News has attempted to contact Tea for further comment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7vl57n74pqo