What is the ‘Tea App’ Everyone is Talking About?

Per their mission statement, Tea is an app designed to help women “[navigate] the modern dating scene.” Tea gives women the opportunity to share their dating experiences and seek advice within a “secure, anonymous platform.”

How the ‘Tea App’ Works

This “community of over 4,647,000 women” was built on the premise of trust. As such, screenshots are blocked, and all members must be verified as women to access the platform.

In addition to being “the largest women’s group chat in the U.S.,” Tea also gives users the ability to reverse image search, run background checks, perform phone number lookups, and search criminal records as well as sex offender registries.

What Happened to the ‘Tea App’

In the evening hours of July 25, 2025, “Tea suffered a major data breach,” according to NPR. The attack, which affected any user who signed up before February 2024, exposed countless “drivers’ licenses, direct messages, selfies and other sensitive information.”

The data was first obtained by “users on the notorious message board 4chan… [who then] leaked it elsewhere online.” The drivers’ licenses and metadata from the other leaked photos have since been used to “make a map of Tea subscribers’ locations.”

In the following days, Tea was hit with another data breach. “More than 1.1 million user direct messages, spanning from early 2023 to last month, were exposed,” according to NBC News.

One user, however, says her data was involved in the breach as well- despite signing up for the app just days before the security incident occurred.

‘Tea App’ Lawsuits

Now, 10 women are suing the Tea app for negligent data practices and breach of contract. Five of the plaintiffs are named, but the other five have chosen to remain anonymous.

In addition to Tea Dating Advice Inc., one suit lists 4chan and X as defendants. The plaintiff alleges “that they allowed bad actors to spread users’ personal information.” NBC News reports that users on 4chan called for a “hack and leak” campaign. Consequently, one “4chan user posted a link that… allowed people to download the database of images, some of which appeared to later circulate on X.” Once the content migrated, X users began to share “a link to a website called TeaSpill that allowed people to rank the photos of the women based on attractiveness.”

Four of the lawsuits are seeking $5 million in damages, but NBC News reports that “the amounts awarded could climb much higher.”

Will the ‘Tea App’ be Shut Down?

Internet attorneys Daniel Warner and Raees Mohamed think not.

“We’ve been seeing many inquiries about the Tea App,” explains Mr. Warner, “and it’s a tool that can be abused.” However, Mr. Mohamed adds, “the app will likely not get shut down any time soon because of Section 230, which provides broad immunity to user-generated content.”

Although, “it’s certainly a possibility the app could go under financially or be shut down by a regulatory agency, like the FTC,” Mr. Warner notes. “It would not surprise me if the FTC took the position that the app was engaging in false and misleading advertising by essentially guaranteeing the safety and security of the data at issue.”

“The Tea app, like all review sites and apps, needs to be taken with a grain of salt,” Mr. Mohamed advises. “The problem is, people tend to believe much of what they read on these apps, even if it’s false. Fortunately, we have solutions to help people who have been defamed.”

TeaOnHer: The Male Version of Tea

TeaOnHer is an app for men, that offers “verified safety insights from [a] community of ID-verified users…” The app does not have a website, but their App Store description highlights key features, such as:

• Government ID Verification Required – Every user verified with real ID documents
• GPS-Locked Reports – All safety reports created from actual locations to prevent fake information
• Three-Tier Privacy System – Choose real name, pseudonym, or anonymous reporting
• Guest Reporting – Non-users can browse and report safety concerns with ID verification

TeaOnHer is, essentially, Tea for men; with the exception being that TeaOnHer gives users the ability to access the app as a “guest.” This exception may not be an advantageous one, though. TechCrunch reports that “immediately upon opening “guest” view, [they] saw several images of the same naked woman, posted under different names in a form of spam.” The online newspaper made it a point to highlight how “it is not clear if this woman consented to this photo being shared.”

Additionally, TechCrunch reports that photos and names of other women were being shared as well, “alongside comments calling them “easy,” or accusing them of spreading sexually transmitted infections.”

Rival Tea App for Men Risks Data Leak

After testing out TeaOnHer, TechCrunch discovered serious security flaws. Apparently, anyone can access “data belonging to TeaOnHer app users, including their usernames and associated email addresses, as well as driver’s licenses and selfies…”

The publication reached out to app makers, alerting them of the bug. However, they received no response. “As such, TechCrunch [published their] report with limited details of the issue…” to warn users.

The report also informs TeaOnHer members that the “email address and plaintext password belonging to the app’s creator, Lampkin, was left exposed on the server. The credentials appear to grant access to the app’s “admin” panel.” TechCrunch clarifies that they did not use the credentials, though.

More updates to come.

In Need of Legal Assistance?

The dedicated team at RM Warner Law can address your data privacy concerns, help you combat digital defamation, and guide you through legal solutions. Call us at 1-866-570-8585 or complete our contact form to speak with one of our experienced online defamation lawyers.