Tea app promising safe dating for women hacked, putting users' privacy at risk
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'We have engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and are working around the clock to secure our systems,' San Francisco-based Tea Dating Advice Inc. said in a statement.
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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.
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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.
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A surge in social media attention over the past week pushed Tea to the No. 1 spot at the U.S. Apple 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 per cent compared to the week before. Tea said in an Instagram post that it had reached four million users.
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A female columnist for The Times of London newspaper, who signed into the app, on Thursday called Tea a 'man-shaming site' and complained that 'this is simply vigilante justice, entirely reliant on the scruples of anonymous women. With Tea on the scene, what man would ever dare date a woman again?'
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'Over the last couple of weeks, we've gotten hundreds of calls on it. It's blown up,' attorney Minc said. 'People are upset. They're getting named. They're getting shamed.'
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In 1996, Congress passed legislation protecting websites and apps from liability for things posted by their users. But the users can be sued for spreading 'false and defamatory' information, Minc said.
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