Photos stolen from girls's relationship security app that vets males

[ad_1] A relationship security app that enables girls to do background checks on males and anonymously share "crimson flag" behaviour has been hacked, exposing hundreds of members' photographs, posts and feedback.

Tea Courting Recommendation, a US-based women-only app with 1.6 million customers, mentioned there had been "unauthorised entry" to 72,000 photographs submitted by girls.

Some included photographs of girls holding picture identification for verification functions, which Tea's personal privateness coverage guarantees are "deleted instantly" after authentication.

Tea mentioned the breach affected members who signed up earlier than February 2024. It added it had "acted quick" and was "working with a few of the most trusted cyber safety specialists".

The app has not too long ago skilled a surge in reputation - in addition to criticism from some who declare it's anti-men.

Tea lets girls verify whether or not potential companions are married or registered intercourse offenders in addition to run reverse picture searches to guard in opposition to "catfishing", the place folks use faux on-line identities.

However probably the most controversial elements of Tea is that it permits girls to share data on males they've dated to "keep away from crimson flags" but additionally spotlight these with "inexperienced flag" qualities.

The corporate mentioned the breached images "can under no circumstances be linked to posts inside Tea".

The agency blocks screenshots in order that posts will not be shared exterior the app.

However on Friday it additionally admitted that an extra 59,000 photographs from the app exhibiting posts, feedback and direct messages from over two years in the past had been accessed.

Tea mentioned: "We're taking each step to guard this neighborhood - now and at all times."

BBC Information has contacted Tea for remark.

The corporate was arrange in November 2022 by Sean Prepare dinner, a software program engineer who mentioned he was impressed to create Tea after witnessing his mom's on-line relationship experiences.

He instructed Medium in Could: "I used to be shocked by how simple it was for catfish, scammers and criminals to reap the benefits of girls on relationship apps and the way little conventional relationship apps do to guard customers."

Nevertheless, some males - and girls - have challenged these kinds of teams claiming that they put males vulnerable to invasion of privateness and defamation.

Earlier this yr, a person named Nikko D'Ambrosio took authorized motion in opposition to Fb's proprietor Meta due to quite a few statements made about him in a chat group known as "Are We Courting the Identical Man".