In late July, a new app called Tea quickly gained popularity in the United States, allowing women to anonymously share reviews of men. According to its creators, the service was designed to help users avoid dating scammers, abusers, or men with criminal records. But just one day after the number of new users reached four million, Tea found itself at the center of a major scandal—a massive data leak.
Selfies and photos of ID documents uploaded during registration were leaked online, exposing thousands of women. The incident triggered sharp criticism—not only of the app’s security but also of the very concept behind Tea. Activists and legal experts warn that such platforms can easily become tools for surveillance and violate the right to privacy—for both men and women.
What Is the Tea App For?
According to Business Insider, Tea was launched in 2023 by Sean Cook, a former Salesforce executive. The idea, he says, came from personal experience: after watching his mother struggle with online dating, Cook noticed how often women encountered lies—or men with criminal histories.
That’s how the concept of Tea was born: a platform where women can anonymously share impressions of men they’ve dated. Although the project only gained widespread attention in 2024, the idea is hardly new. As Business Insider notes, a similar platform called Luluvise existed as early as 2011. Before and after that, women’s communities on social media—especially on Facebook—served a similar purpose.
Essentially, Tea is an app for anonymous gossip-sharing (a hint already contained in its name), where users can post men’s photos, list their names, approximate age, and city. Some women leave reviews and warnings; others ask for information about a specific person or seek advice on whether to go on a date.
The app includes a signaling system: a post can be flagged with a red or green icon, commented on, or followed for updates about a specific person—allowing users to track new reviews from others.
The app is free to use, but some features are available only through a subscription or by meeting certain conditions. For example, the search function is limited: users are initially allowed just five queries per month. To lift that limit, they must either pay for access or invite new users to join the platform.
In recent weeks, Tea has surged in popularity. According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, cited by Business Insider, installations rose by 185% in the first 20 days of July compared to the same period in June 2025. At one point, the app even ranked number one in the App Store’s free downloads chart (at the time of publication, it had dropped to second place). On July 24, 2025, the developers announced that the number of registered users had surpassed four million.
What User Data Was Leaked?
On July 25, 404 Media reported that users of the forum 4chan had discovered an open Tea database on Firebase, a platform owned by Google. According to published screenshots, the leak exposed personal data—including selfies and driver’s license photos uploaded during registration.
Forum posts claimed that anyone could access the materials. Tea representatives confirmed the leak of 72,000 images, around 13,000 of which included facial photos and ID documents. The rest were images attached to posts and private messages. In a letter to reporters, the Tea team said the data had been stored in accordance with law enforcement requirements—allegedly to help prevent cyberbullying.
In a comment to Reuters, the developers stressed that the leak did not affect email addresses or phone numbers, and assured users that the issue did not impact new accounts—only those who registered before February 2024 were affected. The company said it had brought in external cybersecurity experts to audit and strengthen data protection.
Why Is the Tea App Under Fire?
Apps and online communities like Tea inevitably face a host of challenges—both technical and ethical. One of the core concerns is the nature of the service itself: it allows users to post personal information about men without their consent, which falls under the definition of doxxing.
In addition, platforms like this often end up being used to settle personal scores. Anonymity and the lack of verification mechanisms make Tea a vulnerable environment for manipulation and defamation.
The Times columnist Poppy Soerby, who reviewed the app, describes it as a toxic space marked by "vigilante justice entirely dependent on the moral compass of anonymous women." In her view, the developers’ confidence that they’re doing something good is questionable—especially for men who "can be torn apart over rumors."
"Here’s the truth: Tea only adds fuel to the already fraught dating landscape of my generation," Soerby writes. "Maybe the idea was well-intentioned at first, but in the end it kills any faith in romantic risk and emotional authenticity among my peers."
Attorney Aaron Minc, whose firm Minc Law specializes in defamation and online harassment cases, told Associated Press that spreading false information online can be grounds for legal action in the U.S. At the same time, he noted that in May 2025, a federal court in Illinois dismissed a privacy lawsuit filed by a man who had been discussed in a women’s Facebook group.
Commenting on the Tea data leak, Minc added that he wasn’t surprised: "These types of sites are frequent targets. They make enemies for themselves and knowingly paint a bullseye for people looking for a reason to retaliate."