Messaging Suspended as Women’s Dating Safety App Tea Breached for Second Time

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The women‑only dating safety app Tea, launched in 2023 to help women share anonymous “red‑flag” warnings about male romantic partners, has suffered its second serious data breach this week. Around 72,000 images were accessed and leaked on July 25, including approximately 13,000 selfies and government ID photos submitted for identity verification, as well as 59,000 images from public posts, comments, and private messages.

Tea had promised that verification photos would be deleted immediately after processing, but the exposed data stemmed from a legacy archive system used before February 2024. An unknown entity posted the leaked database, which reportedly surfaced briefly on the forum 4chan, including user-related images and even location coordinate data.

A second data breach involving direct messages was reported on July 28. In response to the breach, Tea suspended its direct messaging feature. The platform claims no user phone numbers or email addresses were compromised, but the breach did expose personal communications, some involving sensitive topics such as infidelity. Tea says it is working with cybersecurity experts and the FBI.

The incident has also prompted two class‑action lawsuits in California, alleging negligence among other claims, with plaintiffs seeking data encryption and the purge of sensitive archives. 

Originally promoted as a safety tool for women to avoid online dating risks, the Tea breaches highlight the importance of securely handling sensitive data, especially of people who could be in vulnerable situations.