Tea app suffers breach, exposing thousands of user images

Tea, an software claiming to assist girls “be sure that your historical past is protected, not catfish and never in a relationship”, is witnessing a safety breach. 404 media Reports The database posted on 4chane allowed anybody to entry consumer information. (It has been eliminated since then.) The gathering of information included hundreds of images, together with driver licenses.

4Chan customers claimed that the information got here from an open database that was hosted on Firebase, the Google Utility Growth platform. 404 media Examine that the URL of the Open Storage Aquarius matchs one within the Android app in Tea.

The corporate confirmed the breach. In a press release to 404 mediaThe tea stated it “has set an unauthorized entry to considered one of our programs and instantly totally known as the scope and affect.” The corporate said that the open info included information for greater than two years. It included 72000 images, together with private images, pictures and images of the applying and DMS posts.

“This information was initially saved in compliance with the regulation enforcement necessities associated to the prevention of digital bullying,” the tea stated. “Cyber safety specialists have shared on the third social gathering and work across the clock to safe our programs. Right now, there isn’t any proof that the present or extra consumer information has been affected. Defending the privateness of our customers and our information is our first precedence. We take each step mandatory to make sure our statute security.”

The applying permits customers to publish photos of males “Pink-Flag”. “Really move dates on Tinder, Bumble, Match or Hinge? Play Retailer within the app Read. “Tea is an crucial software, which helps girls keep away from purple flags earlier than the primary appointment with relationship recommendation and displaying them from behind the file of the one who is absolutely relationship.”

The Play Retailer Retailer menu sheds mild on the reverse telephone quantity search. It has sections of the actual names of males, ages, addresses, social options, and the connection. Different options embrace looking for reverse pictures and checking the background to assist girls “get tea in your historical past”. Customers can discover others on whether or not they need to decide the relationship new matches.

The applying requires new customers to ship a private picture to confirm the id issued by the federal government. Tea stated 404 media It makes use of this to test that new subscriptions are already girls.

The timing of the violation coincided with rising the recognition of the applying. according to Enterprise InsiderHit the highest of the Apple app this week. The applying was first launched in 2023.