A week after Tea, a women’s dating safety app, soared to No. 1 on the app store with more than 2.5 million requests to join, the app experienced a data breach. The result? More than 70,000 of user-submitted images used for photo identification and 59,000 more posts and comments were leaked. Tea is actively working with cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to support an investigation.
Despite the widely-reported breach, Tea is currently No. 2 on the app store. Never heard of it? You're not alone but it's developed a passionate and dedicated following, especially among certain groups of women who say it makes them feel safer in an increasingly unpredictable online landscape. Tea allows women to anonymously discover "red flags" about men they're interacting with through crowdsourced updates, reverse image searches and background checks. The app also has a forum where women ask for advice. Critics say misinformation can run rampant in these anonymous discussions, but some women who've been in abusive relationships say the app is indispensable to them. It makes them feel safer.
Jessica Mahoney signed up for Tea a few months ago. She had recently gotten out of a two-year-long abusive relationship and was ready to start dating again. As she scrolled through videos about how to spot narcissistic behavior and catch cheaters, she saw a woman mention Tea.
