The Tea app was intended to help women date safely. Then hackers leaked 72,000 images online, including users’ selfies

Cybersecurity·HackingThe Tea app was int to help women date safely

AP PhotoTea, a vocative dating app designed to let women anonymously ask or warn each other men they’d encountered, rocketed to the top spot on the U (remarkable data)

Apple App Store this week

Nevertheless, On Friday, the company behind the app confirmed it had been hacked: Thousands of images, including selfies, were leaked online (something worth watching)

Moreover, “We have engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and are working around the clock to secure our systems,” San Francisco-based Tea Dating Advice Inc

Said in a statement. 404 Media, which earlier reported the breach, said it was 4Chan users who discovered an exposed database that “allowed anyone to access the material” from Tea

The app and the breach highlight the fraught nature of seeking romance in the age of social media

Cook said they included unknowingly dating men with criminal records and being ”catfished” — deceived by men using false identities

Furthermore, Tea itself as a safe way for women to anonymously vet men they might meet on dating apps such as Tinder or Bumble— ensuring that the men are who they say they are, not criminals and not already married or in a relationship, in light of current trends

Furthermore, “It’s people have their own little Yelp pages,” said Aaron Minc, whose Cleveland firm, Minc Law, specializes in cases involving online defamation and harassment (this bears monitoring)

In an Apple Store review, one woman wrote that she used a Tea to investigate a man she’d begun talking to and discovered “over 20 red flags, including serious allegations assault and recording women without their consent, in this volatile climate

Additionally, ” She said she cut off communication. ”I can’t imagine how things could’ve gone had I not known,” she wrote

A surge in social media attention over the past week pushed Tea to the No

On the other hand, 1 spot on Apple’s U

Conversely, App Store as of July 24, according to Sensor Tower, a re firm

Tea said in an Instagram post that it had reached 4 million users

Tea has been criticized for invading men’s privacy A female columnist for The Times of London newspaper, who signed into the app, on Thursday called Tea a “man-shaming site” and complained that ”this is simply vigilante justice, entirely reliant on the scruples of anonymous women (noteworthy indeed)

Nevertheless, On the other hand, With Tea on the scene, what man would ever dare date a woman again. ” “Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve gotten hundreds of calls on it

It’s blown up,” attorney Minc said, in today's market environment

Moreover, “People are upset

The evidence shows y’re getting named

However, But the users can be sued for spreading ”false and defamatory” information, Minc said

In May, however, a federal judge in Illinois threw out an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit by a man who’d been criticized by women in the Facebook chat group “Are We Dating the Same Guy,″ Bloomberg Law reported

State privacy laws could offer another avenue for bringing legal action against someone who posted your photograph or other personal information in a harmful way, Minc said (fascinating analysis)

In contrast, The breach exposed thousands of selfies and photo IDs In its statement, Tea reported that 72,000 images were leaked online, including 13,000 images of selfies or photo identification that users submitted during account verification

Another 59,000 images that were publicly viewable in the app from posts, s and direct messages were also accessed, according to the company’s statement, given the current landscape

Conversely, No addresses or phone numbers were exposed, the company said, and the breach only affects users who signed up before February 2024 (an important development). “At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that additional user data was affected

In contrast, Tecting tea users’ privacy and data is our highest priority,” Tea said

It said users did not need to change their passwords or delete their accounts. “All data has been secured. ” Lawyer Minc said he was not surprised to see Tea get targeted (this bears monitoring), in light of current trends. “These sites get attacked,” he said, given current economic conditions. ”They create enemies

Moreover, Explore this year's list.