A relationship security app that enables ladies to do background checks on males and anonymously share “crimson flag” behaviour has been hacked, exposing hundreds of members’ photos, posts and feedback.
Tea Courting Recommendation, a US-based women-only app with 1.6 million customers, stated there had been “unauthorised entry” to 72,000 photos submitted by ladies.
Some included photos of ladies holding picture identification for verification functions, which Tea’s personal privateness coverage guarantees are “deleted instantly” after authentication.
Tea stated the breach affected members who signed up earlier than February 2024. It added it had “acted quick” and was “working with among the most trusted cyber safety specialists”.
The app has not too long ago skilled a surge in recognition – in addition to criticism from some who declare it’s anti-men.
Tea lets ladies examine whether or not potential companions are married or registered intercourse offenders in addition to run reverse picture searches to guard towards “catfishing”, the place individuals use faux on-line identities.
However one of the vital controversial points of Tea is that it permits ladies to share info on males they’ve dated to “keep away from crimson flags” but additionally spotlight these with “inexperienced flag” qualities.
The corporate stated the breached images “can under no circumstances be linked to posts inside Tea”.
The agency blocks screenshots in order that posts usually are not shared exterior the app.
However on Friday it additionally admitted that a further 59,000 photos from the app displaying posts, feedback and direct messages from over two years in the past had been accessed.
Tea stated: “We’re taking each step to guard this group – now and at all times.”
BBC Information has contacted Tea for remark.
The corporate was arrange in November 2022 by Sean Cook dinner, a software program engineer who stated he was impressed to create Tea after witnessing his mom’s on-line relationship experiences.
He informed Medium in Might: “I used to be shocked by how straightforward it was for catfish, scammers and criminals to benefit from ladies on relationship apps and the way little conventional relationship apps do to guard customers.”
Nonetheless, some males – and girls – have challenged these kinds of teams claiming that they put males susceptible to invasion of privateness and defamation.
Earlier this 12 months, a person named Nikko D’Ambrosio took authorized motion towards Fb’s proprietor Meta due to quite a few statements made about him in a chat group known as “Are We Courting the Identical Man”.
The lawsuit was thrown out by a federal decide in Illinois.
