The Tea app, which quickly became the top free app on the Apple App Store for offering women a safe space to share experiences about men, has just suffered a massive privacy breach—one that could impact tens of thousands of its users.
On Friday, a Tea spokesperson confirmed that the app had been hacked, and the damage is severe. According to the company, 72,000 images—including over 13,000 government IDs and verification selfies—were accessed and likely leaked. These are photos the app collects when users sign up, requiring women to verify their identity by uploading a selfie.
The app, which was designed to act as a “virtual whisper network” where women could flag men as red or green flags, had been celebrated as a breakthrough tool for online safety. Users could even run background checks or reverse-search photos to help protect themselves from predators, catfishers, or abusive behavior.
But now the app’s biggest promise—user safety and anonymity—is under fire.
A representative said the data came from a two-year-old database, originally stored to meet law enforcement requirements around cyberbullying prevention. They’ve since hired outside cybersecurity experts to lock down their systems.
“Protecting our users’ privacy and data is our highest priority,” the company stated. But many users aren’t buying it—commenters on Instagram and other platforms are now demanding answers, with some still stuck on waitlists for access to the app.
The hacking incident appears to have been motivated in part by backlash from online trolls. On Thursday night, users on 4Chan—a known right-wing message board—were reportedly calling for a “hack and leak” campaign targeting Tea. By Friday morning, a link to the stolen images appeared on the platform, with thousands of women’s photos allegedly reposted to X (formerly Twitter) and 4Chan.
Tea’s founder, Sean Cook, previously said he built the app after witnessing his mother’s terrifying experiences in online dating. The platform promised to make dating safer and claimed to donate 10% of profits to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which confirmed the donation.
But the platform’s sudden rise—and even faster backlash—has sparked heated debates online. Some men have expressed fears of being misrepresented or falsely flagged, while others threatened to launch “revenge” apps like Teaborn, which was quickly removed from app stores after users were caught sharing revenge porn.
Despite the controversy, the Tea app said it had over 2 million new signups in recent days. But with users’ private info now on the line, the company faces its most critical test yet.
If you believe your data may have been compromised, the I.T. security community recommends checking whether your photos or ID were leaked and taking action to safeguard your identity.
