Tea, a Provocative Dating App Designed to Let Women Anonymously Ask/Warn Each Other About Men They've Encountered-Was Hacked!!

[Knox]

Tea founder Sean Cook, a software engineer who previously worked at Salesforce and Shutterfly, says on the app's website that he founded the company in 2022 after witnessing his own mother's "terrifying'' experiences. Cook said they included unknowingly dating men with criminal records and being "catfished'' — deceived by men using false identities.

Tea markets itself as a safe way for women to anonymously vet men they might meet on dating apps such as Tinder or Bumble — ensuring that the men are who they say they are, not criminals and not already married or in a relationship. It's been compared to the Yelp of dating.

In an Apple Store review, one woman wrote that she used a Tea search to investigate a man she'd begun talking to and discovered "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.

The Tea app was intended to help women date safely. Then it got hacked

On Friday, the company behind the app confirmed it had been hacked: Thousands of images, including selfies, were leaked online.

myfox28columbus.com

 

[Knox]

In its statement, Tea reported that about 72,000 images were leaked online, including 13,000 images of selfies or photo identification that users submitted during account verification. Another 59,000 images that were publicly viewable in the app from posts, comments and direct messages were also accessed, according to the company's statement.

No email addresses or phone numbers were exposed, the company said, and the breach only affects users who signed up before February 2024. "At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that additional user data was affected. Protecting tea users' privacy and data is our highest priority," Tea said.

The Tea app was intended to help women date safely. Then it got hacked

On Friday, the company behind the app confirmed it had been hacked: Thousands of images, including selfies, were leaked online.

myfox28columbus.com

 

[Knox]

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, according to Sensor Tower, a research firm. In the seven days from July 17-23, Tea downloads shot up 525% compared to the week before. Tea said in an Instagram post that it had reached 4 million users.

The Tea app was intended to help women date safely. Then it got hacked

A provocative dating app designed to let women anonymously ask or warn each other about men they'd encountered rocketed to the top spot on the U.S.

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