A significant data breach occurred in the women-only dating app, Tea, exposing over 72,000 verification selfies, government IDs, and private messages. Users' sensitive information was made publicly available through an unsecured database, allowing hackers to scrape and share personal documents rapidly. The breach is particularly alarming as Tea promoted itself as a safe space for women, requiring uploads of IDs and selfies to prevent fake accounts. The leaked data, containing a total of 59.3 GB, included personal images from 2024 and 2025, contrary to claims that only older data was involved. The app's original popularity had soared to 4 million users, known for its focus on safety, but this incident undermined that narrative. Criticism was directed at the coding practices of the app's developers, suggesting that reliance on generative AI resulted in significant security weaknesses. The fallout has led to concerns about users' safety, including the potential for identity theft, and recommendations for affected individuals to engage in credit monitoring as a preventative measure.

Source 🔗