Tea App’s Daily Leak: Viral Data Breach Raises Privacy Alarm

Tea App’s Daily Leak: Viral Data Breach Raises Privacy Alarm

By Akshant Tyagi | 25th July 2025

Tea, a women-only dating-safety app, recently went viral but for all the wrong reasons. Its promise to protect users has now unraveled in the wake of a major data breach circulating on 4chan, exposing sensitive user data and sparking widespread outrage.

What Happened: The Tea App Data Breach

• In late July 2025, users on 4chan claimed to have accessed an exposed Google Firebase database tied to Tea, which included thousands of user selfies, face verification images, and even scanned driver’s licenses.

• One post read: “DRIVERS LICENSES AND FACE PICS! … BEFORE THEY SHUT IT DOWN!” suggesting massive public exposure of private data.

• Reports and screenshots from 4chan show users downloading thousands of files, many tied to real women, before the bucket was locked down.

This breach directly contradicts Tea’s assurances of privacy and security especially given that identity verification is central to its model.

 About Tea: Mission & Features

• Launched in 2023 by Sean Cook, Tea allows verified female users to post anonymous reviews of men they’ve dated or interacted with. It provides tools like background checks, reverse image searches, and green/red flag labeling.

• Highly viral in July 2025, the app saw downloads spike by 185%, topping the App Store charts with more than 1.6 million users.

• To register, users must upload a selfie and government-issued ID. The app actively prevents screenshots to protect privacy but leaks suggest these measures are easily bypassed or insufficient.

Privacy Concerns & Ethical Debate

• Experts warn Tea can easily be misused for defamation, since users post private info and allegations without verification or consent even with an anonymous interface.

• Critics highlight potential for false allegations, cyberbullying, and irreversible reputational harm, especially to men posted on the platform without recourse.

• The recent breach magnifies these risks exposed driver’s licenses and selfies pose not just reputational, but legal risks to affected users.

4chan Leak: What It Means

• The exposed Firebase bucket made personal data easily searchable and downloadable. Scripts written by anonymous users automated data scraping, exposing possibly thousands of women’s IDs and images.

• While Tea’s code was examined and the bucket URL verified, the company has not publicly responded to the breach.

• This kind of exposure is rare even on 4chan and raises questions about Tea’s data storage practices and Firebase security protocols.

Observations & Lessons

Conclusion:

Tea presents itself as a tool for women’s safety in dating, yet the recent breach reveals deeper vulnerabilities: from storage flaws to potential abuse of anonymity. For an app built on trust and verification, exposure of driver’s licenses and face photos is not just ironic it’s deeply damaging.

Going forward, Tea’s rise may be overshadowed by questions of accountability, user protection, and the broader risks embedded in anonymous safety apps.