The tea app has become one of the top trending apps in the USA in 2025, topping the App Store charts and igniting conversations online for its unique approach to dating safety. Unlike typical dating platforms, the tea app is designed exclusively for women, letting them share anonymous reviews, red flags, and experiences about men they’ve dated. In this article, you’ll get a deep dive into what the tea app is, how it works, the recent tea app data breach, and the 4chan controversy that’s made national headlines.
What Is the Tea App and Why Is It So Popular?
The tea app was launched by software developer Sean Cook in 2023 after witnessing his mom’s negative experience with online dating, including catfishing and discovering criminal histories only after the fact. The app is fundamentally designed to empower women to pursue safe dating practices by collecting reviews and background information on men, helping to uncover red flags before the first coffee or dinner encounter.
Key Features of the Tea App
- Access is granted exclusively to women, with registration verified via a selfie and ID.
- Search and post reviews of men by name, photo, or location
- Reverse image search (Catfish Finder AI)
- Phone number lookup, background checks, and criminal record tools
- Anonymous forums for sharing stories and warnings
- Users can mark profiles as red or green flag, and add comments
- This app allocates 10% of its earnings to support the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
The app, frequently compared to Yelp but for dating, shot to the #1 spot in the US App Store by July 2025. It has over 4 million users and an additional 900,000 on the waiting list, fueled by viral moments on TikTok, Reddit, and intense social media buzz.
How Does the Tea App Work?
Upon joining the tea app, women are asked to upload a selfie and ID for verification, which the company claims is for safety and to keep the platform women-only. The home feed displays men’s photos and reviews posted by other users; members can look up individuals, post feedback, or request information—seeking “tea” on a date or ex.
Additional tools allow users to:
- Run background/sex offender registry checks
- Reverse-search dating photos to catch catfish
- Participate in forums (“The Tea Party Chat”) for advice and support
The app does not facilitate dating or matches directly—it’s about information and safety, not romance.
Controversy and Ethical Debate
While many women praise the tea app for protecting them, critics warn it can be used for doxxing and spreading false information, since men can’t see or dispute posts made about them. This has sparked heated debates on platforms like Reddit and Twitter, with supporters calling it necessary and detractors criticizing privacy risks and potential for misuse.
The 2025 Tea App Data Breach—What Happened?
The Breach
On July 25, 2025, shocking news broke that the tea app was hacked, resulting in around 72,000 images leaking online. This included:
- During the process of account creation, 13,000 verification selfies and photo IDs were submitted.
- About 59,000 images extracted from posts, comments, and private/direct messages
A user on the controversial forum 4chan found and shared access to a misconfigured, open Firebase storage bucket underpinning the app. Sensitive images—many with government-issued IDs—were available for download, with no authentication protections in place.
Table: Tea App Data Breach Quick Facts
| What Was Leaked? | Details |
| Verification selfies | 13,000 images used during sign-up |
| User IDs (driver licenses/government ID) | Stolen and published on 4chan |
| App posts/comments/messages | 59,000 publicly visible images |
| Who’s affected? | Users who signed up before February 2024 |
| Was contact info leaked? | No emails or phone numbers exposed, per Tea |
| Where did the leak spread? | 4chan, Reddit, social media |
| When was it fixed? | Public access closed within hours of disclosure |
The tea app data breach came to light after screenshots circulated across social media, intensifying outrage. Cybersecurity experts flagged the risk of stalking, identity theft, and doxxing—since the database included not just faces, but often legal names and home address metadata from the images.
How the Company Responded
Founder Sean Cook confirmed the breach, stating external cybersecurity experts are now fortifying systems and that no phone numbers or email addresses were compromised. He described the images as “legacy data” from a storage system used pre-February 2024, held for law enforcement compliance on cyberbullying prevention. Still, many security professionals criticized the absence of basic access controls and the persistence of sensitive images after the stated “temporary” storage period.
4chan Tea App Breach
Users from 4chan boasted about accessing and downloading the files, with some posting them online—fueling further privacy and safety concerns for the women involved. The tea app data breach via the open Firebase server has quickly become a cautionary tale in data security and the dangers of storing face IDs and personal documents without strict safeguards.
Is the Tea App Safe Now? What Users Need to Know
The company insists the vulnerability has been patched, new audits are underway, and external security teams are now monitoring its systems. However, privacy advocates urge all users who submitted photo IDs to monitor for possible identity theft or harassment—and warn that online-only verification systems always entail some risk.
Pros and Cons—Tea App Safety, Trust, and Viral Growth
| Pros | Cons |
| Innovative tool for women’s dating safety | Massive, damaging data breach in 2025 |
| Community crowd-sourced “red flag” reviews | Stored IDs/selfies leaked online (risk of doxxing) |
| Donates to domestic violence prevention | Accusations of facilitating misinformation |
| Fast viral growth, ~4M users in July 2025 | Allows negative data about men, no right of reply |
| Unique tools: catfish finder, background checks | Privacy critics point to regulatory blind spots |
Frequently Asked Questions—The Tea App, 4chan, and Privacy
Q: What is the tea app?
A: A women-only app for sharing anonymous reviews and background checks on men, designed for dating safety.
Q: What’s the recent tea app data breach?
A: On July 25, 2025, hackers accessed an unprotected storage bucket, leaking 72,000 images—verification IDs, selfies, and message photos.
Q: Did 4chan hack the tea app?
A: Users from 4chan found and publicized open access to the tea app’s data, triggering the leak and spreading screenshots/files online.
Q: Was my phone/email leaked?
A: Tea says no phone or email info was exposed—only pre-2024 users’ images and IDs.
Q: What risks should I watch for?
A: If you submitted a selfie or ID, watch for possible doxxing, identity theft, or harassment. Consider using credit or identity monitoring.
Q: Is the tea app safe now?
A: The main data leak has been fixed, but experts call for caution whenever an app asks for verified IDs—especially for sensitive topics.
Key Takeaways—Tea App, Community, and Caution
- The tea app is a viral women-only dating safety tool in the US that crowdsources anonymous reviews and background info about men.
- In July 2025, a tea app data breach exposed 72,000 verification and post images, after 4chan users found an unprotected public database.
- Experts say the breach emphasizes the need for rigorous data security, particularly when storing faces and government IDs.
- Users are urged to be vigilant with any app requiring real identity uploads, and to weigh protection versus privacy when using social platforms.
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