72,000 women's photos and locations exposed in nightmare data breach
Tea Dating Advice, the female-only app that soared to popularity this July, was hailed a game-changer in identifying dodgy men and enabling women to 'swipe safely.'
The Yelpâ€'style platform grants women access to a forum where they can post anonymous ratings of men they're seeing and ask other women for 'tea' - aka gossip/dirt.
Think of it like writing a scathing review of that regretful Tinder date you went on with the footâ€'fetish guy, or simply venting about your ex.
The app is armed with AI-powered features to help you steer clear of danger in the chaos of modern dating: including background checks, reverse image lookups, sex offender registry searches, and the ability to set alerts on men's names.
The 'revolutionary' dating tool had a rapid rise, but an equally fast downfall.
Youth and pop culture magazine Dazed argued that the app's model teeters on 'digital vigilantism', allowing women to post photos of men without their consent, raising serious privacy questions.
And now those very concerns are front and centre.
Quietly launched in 2023 by tech founder Sean Cook, Tea remained under the radar, only rocketing to number one on Apple's US App Store at the beginning of July 2025.
Last Friday, the company confirmed it suffered 'unauthorised access to an archived data system', exposing roughly 72,000 userâ€'submitted images.
13,000 selfies and photo IDs used for verification, plus 59,000 images from posts, comments and direct messages dating back over two years.
Tea's Instagram statement insisted the breach affected only a 'legacy storage system' and that users who signed up after February 2024 were not impacted.
'We've acted fast and we're working with some of the most trusted cybersecurity experts,' the company said.
Tea claims it stored those images to comply with cyber-bullying prevention laws. But critics have questioned - if photo IDs were supposed to be deleted after verification, why did thousands remain in an exposed archive?
In 2023, the app reportedly stopped requiring photo IDs for new signups, yet the breached data set still contained thousands of them.
While Tea was celebrating two million new users, an anonymous 4chan user posted a database of photos, including location-tied data and even a map - which sparked heated discussion across X and Facebook. These posts have since been removed.
It's likely no coincidence that 4chan, infamous for online harassment, was a vocal critic of the app, with some users calling for it to be hacked in the days after it blew up on social media.
Tea is just the latest target in a broader debate about women using tech to stay safe and the backlash that often follows.
Apps and groups aimed at outing cheaters or dangerous men have gained traction on social media, but they've also triggered lawsuits, hate campaigns, and arguments about defamation and privacy.
Cook said the app was born out of watching his mother's 'terrifying' experience with online dating.
She was catfished and unknowingly interacted with men who had criminal histories.
But sadly, in trying to fix one safety issue, Cook created another.
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News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
72,000 women's photos and locations exposed in nightmare data breach
A once-empowering app designed to protect women from catfishers, criminals and creeps has turned into a privacy nightmare. Tea Dating Advice, the female-only app that soared to popularity this July, was hailed a game-changer in identifying dodgy men and enabling women to 'swipe safely.' The Yelpâ€'style platform grants women access to a forum where they can post anonymous ratings of men they're seeing and ask other women for 'tea' - aka gossip/dirt. Think of it like writing a scathing review of that regretful Tinder date you went on with the footâ€'fetish guy, or simply venting about your ex. The app is armed with AI-powered features to help you steer clear of danger in the chaos of modern dating: including background checks, reverse image lookups, sex offender registry searches, and the ability to set alerts on men's names. The 'revolutionary' dating tool had a rapid rise, but an equally fast downfall. Youth and pop culture magazine Dazed argued that the app's model teeters on 'digital vigilantism', allowing women to post photos of men without their consent, raising serious privacy questions. And now those very concerns are front and centre. Quietly launched in 2023 by tech founder Sean Cook, Tea remained under the radar, only rocketing to number one on Apple's US App Store at the beginning of July 2025. Last Friday, the company confirmed it suffered 'unauthorised access to an archived data system', exposing roughly 72,000 userâ€'submitted images. 13,000 selfies and photo IDs used for verification, plus 59,000 images from posts, comments and direct messages dating back over two years. Tea's Instagram statement insisted the breach affected only a 'legacy storage system' and that users who signed up after February 2024 were not impacted. 'We've acted fast and we're working with some of the most trusted cybersecurity experts,' the company said. Tea claims it stored those images to comply with cyber-bullying prevention laws. But critics have questioned - if photo IDs were supposed to be deleted after verification, why did thousands remain in an exposed archive? In 2023, the app reportedly stopped requiring photo IDs for new signups, yet the breached data set still contained thousands of them. While Tea was celebrating two million new users, an anonymous 4chan user posted a database of photos, including location-tied data and even a map - which sparked heated discussion across X and Facebook. These posts have since been removed. It's likely no coincidence that 4chan, infamous for online harassment, was a vocal critic of the app, with some users calling for it to be hacked in the days after it blew up on social media. Tea is just the latest target in a broader debate about women using tech to stay safe and the backlash that often follows. Apps and groups aimed at outing cheaters or dangerous men have gained traction on social media, but they've also triggered lawsuits, hate campaigns, and arguments about defamation and privacy. Cook said the app was born out of watching his mother's 'terrifying' experience with online dating. She was catfished and unknowingly interacted with men who had criminal histories. But sadly, in trying to fix one safety issue, Cook created another.
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Yes, AGI will transform warfare, as nuclear weapons did 80 years ago. The Chinese government had much the same idea as Trump exactly eight years ago. Its AI plan was released on July 20, 2017, with the following ambition: "By 2030, China's AI theories, technologies, and applications should achieve world-leading levels, making China the world's primary AI innovation centre". Meanwhile, in the US, a company called Nvidia had just discovered that the chips it was making for video games could work nicely for artificial intelligence. In July 2017, at the same time as the Chinese government was launching its AI strategy, Nvidia and the Chinese equivalent of Google, Baidu, announced a partnership in which Baidu would use Nvidia's chips for AI, and the American company would get access to the Chinese market. 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