There’s a glaringly grim irony in the Tea App data leak that’s seen tens of thousands of women, many of whom had used the app to warn others about toxic men, now made vulnerable themselves.
The app, which sky-rocketed to the top of app charts last week, with millions of downloads and counting, was first created in 2023 to give women the tools to date more safely.
After going viral on TikTok, the app became a fixation in male-dominated forums like 4chan and “men’s rights” subreddits, where users openly called for the app to be hacked and exposed. And that’s exactly what happened.
And some still wondered why we choose the bear.
What Is The Tea App?
Branded as a dating “safety tool,” it lets women anonymously review their dating experiences with men and share red flags (and green ones) in the hopes of protecting one another from potentially toxic men.
“At its core, Tea is built on one fundamental belief: Women should never have to compromise their safety while dating,” the site states.
For many, it’s being hailed as the future of dating safety, offering women a way to share experiences without fear of being silenced, gaslit, or harassed.
How Does The Tea App Work?
Only women and nonbinary users are allowed to create accounts. Once in, they can “drop tea” by posting anonymous reviews of men, flagging everything from ghosting and love-bombing to more serious behaviours like coercion or boundary-crossing.
Some have questioned whether the app itself – naming, identifying and on some occasions making legally concerning claims about their behaviour – violates the rights and privacy of men being discussed. The biggest concern for those posting is a potential claim of defamation.
Legally, defamation is the publication of false information that harms someone’s reputation. For this reason, users are wanted against making “revenge claims” or false statements.
The Tea App Leak & 4Chan
While calls to “hack and leak” Tea’s data are said to have originated on 4chan, the exact source responsible remains unclear.
The BBC reports that 72,000 images submitted by women including 13,000 verification photos and government IDs of female users were accessed without authorisation.
Following the data breach Tea said it was “working with some of the most trusted cyber security experts” to rectify the issue.
Since the leak, 404 Media reports that some of the stolen images have surfaced on 4Chan while NBC revealed one Google Maps user created a map showing the locations of some Tea users.
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