On July 24, the women-centered dating app, Tea, took to social media to celebrate amassing over 4 million users. This milestone allowed them to become the most downloaded free app on Apple’s app store. The next day, they released a statement informing users of a breach to their archival system. In their statement, they admit the archive system stored about 72,000 user-submitted images – including photo identifications.
According to 404 Media, a user on 4chan, an anonymous imageboard website, posted that Tea used an unsecured Firebase to store their users’ personal information. The user uploaded a Python script that exposed personal data of Tea users who joined the app before February 2024. The images of the women behind the anonymous profiles have been shared across various social media platforms.
The collage-form images of the women that were exposed have spread online like wildfire, showing clear view of their identities. With driver’s licenses and face pics in the open, the potential outcome is a matter of potential harm and identity theft.
What Is Tea?
Tea is an app that allows women to anonymously ask for advice about men they are interested in or are currently dating. The app’s mission statement says the app’s goal is to, “find support and empowerment from a community of verified women.”
The app has measures they take in order to verify the validity of their gender before being accepted. Per their privacy policy, this includes their email address, date of birth, location, photograph, ID photograph, etc.
Cybersecurity professionals would advise anyone to be careful uploading their personal information online, because once it’s out, it’s out forever. However, the requirements for the app aren’t much different than other applications and websites. Some question whether the breach was more than petty hacking but a revenge tactic to women’s “better safe than sorry” methods, restarting the conversation on internet safety.
Obviously the tea app had privacy and surveillance issues but it’s a little on the nose that when women wanted to feel safe while dating men, men responded by doxxing and harassing them pic.twitter.com/lP1qYHnJoV
— evan loves worf (@esjesjesj) July 26, 2025
“Who are the creators of the Tea app because I’d like to speak with them about possibly creating a safe, secure app so this doesn’t happen again,” one Twitter user comments.
What Happens Next?
Since the breach, the app’s social media team has kept users updated regarding the incident. The latest update posted was informing users they have evidence that private messages were hacked. Since then, they have made direct messaging temporarily available.
While there are similar structures for women to practice dating safety measures, one being a popular Facebook group called, “Are We Dating The Same Guy,” this app offers amenities that others do not. The app has a local sex offender map with a section that will direct you towards background checks, criminal record searches, and court record searches. For more safety measures, they have involved cybersecurity experts and the FBI to make it more secure for their users. One can only hope the app strengthens their security to make sure this is a one-time issue.
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