Women's ‘red flag' app Tea is a privacy nightmare
Tea was founded by software developer Sean Cook, who said he was inspired to create an anonymous whisper network after witnessing his own mother's 'terrifying' dating experiences with men. It was also heavily influenced by the rise of 'Are We Dating The Same Guy' Facebook groups and operates in a similar paradigm of sounding anecdotal alarms about men people have dated. The app surged in popularity to the top spot on Apple's App Store last week. Tea claims to have more than 4 million active users.
On July 25th, 72,000 images — including 13,000 selfies and driver's licenses, as well as another 59,000 images, that were published on the app — were breached, with many downloaded and posted publicly on 4chan. 4chan users initially posted images of four women's driver's licenses, redacting some personal information, but the firestorm of comments in the thread suggested that thousands of images were downloaded before the company was aware of the breach. Tea told 404 Media that it had launched 'a full investigation with assistance from external cybersecurity firms,' and that it was working with law enforcement 'to assist' in their investigation.
Tea was storing its users' sensitive information on Firebase, a Google-owned backend cloud storage and computing service. Since 2023, Tea no longer requires users to send in photos of their IDs for verification purposes. While the company initially insisted that the hack only affected its 'legacy' database and users who signed up before February 2024, according to the independent researcher and data trove reviewed by 404 Media, Tea remains unsafe, way beyond the scope of the original hack, and private messages sent as late as last week are accessible and vulnerable to further exposure.
Since Tea's surge in use among women, it's drawn more incensed criticism and ire among so-called 'men's rights' groups online.
Men who discovered they appeared on the app have called it a 'toxic' network. Some are going viral on TikTok and X, claiming that the assertions made about them are defamatory and wholly untrue. 'The issue is that people (women especially) won't see this as an issue until the male version of the app is created. I deserve to know my date's STD history, body count, etc.,' reads a top-rated comment on a thread in the subreddit r/MensRights. A retaliatory app featuring women was created shortly thereafter, called Teaborn, but it was promptly taken down after reports of users posting revenge porn.
Several cybersecurity and data privacy experts have called Tea's storage methods, which led to the initial hack, downright negligent.
'This data was originally stored in compliance with law enforcement requirements related to cyber-bullying prevention,' the company initially claimed in the statement provided to 404 Media.
Peter Dordal, a professor of online networks and security at Loyola University in Chicago, told The Verge that he believes the company's statement — that it was in compliance with the law — is 'misleading,' and that the company could have done more to prevent this cybersecurity nightmare. '[The statement] is misleading on two counts: first of all, law enforcement doesn't set requirements; that's the job of Congress and state legislatures. Tea didn't cite the actual legal requirement,' Dordal said. 'Second, if there was a legitimate legal need to retain these images, they shouldn't have been accessible online at all; they are clearly not needed for ordinary site activity.'
Dordal added that while it's commonplace for user data to be stored in the cloud, Tea should have taken measures to ensure that it could not be accessed by the public. Tea's terms and conditions also claim it deletes user data after verification, which it has apparently failed to do.
'Tea definitely had negligent security practices if the current reporting is true,' said Grant Ho, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago who researches computer security. 'A company should never host users' private data on a publicly accessible server, and, at a minimum, the data should've been stored encrypted.'
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, a law professor at George Washington University and expert in Big Data surveillance, points out that a whisper network on the internet is no longer safeguarded like a real whisper network could be when it operates offline. Your data is no longer in your control.
'What changes when it's digital and recoverable and save-able and searchable is you lose control over it,' Ferguson said. 'You can't keep it within the confines of people you trust.'
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They point to past collapses — from natural disasters to economic shocks — and argue that preparedness isn't reactionary, but rational. To them, Dark Reset represents an organized way to take responsibility in an era of institutional instability. They highlight its field-tested simplicity and biblical tone as reasons it resonates beyond the typical prepper demographic. Some skeptics argue that survival narratives can easily slip into hyperbole. They express concern that framing global tension as personal threat may feed anxiety rather than clarity. However, these critiques rarely dismiss the vulnerabilities themselves. Even those who resist the tone of survival culture often acknowledge that basic resiliency — clean water storage, emergency heating, medicine access — makes practical sense. Others remain cautiously curious. These observers aren't looking for confrontation or confirmation. They're scanning headlines, noting the frequency of silent outages, bank disruptions, and power grid warnings. They're asking internal questions: what would we do? Are we ready? Could we stay calm if the phones went dead? That broad middle is where Dark Reset gains quiet traction. Its authors don't position themselves as prophets or provocateurs. They're not forecasting the end. They're offering a framework — one rooted in spiritual clarity, practical repetition, and the kind of calm decisiveness that many now find missing in institutional responses. In public forums, the conversation continues. Some call it preparation. Others call it overreaction. But the signals behind the buzz — the blackouts, the food disruptions, the silent system failures — remain stubbornly present. And for many, that's enough. About Dark Reset Dark Reset is not a traditional product launch or media campaign. It's the result of a quiet collaboration between two men with vastly different backgrounds, united by a shared concern: that most American families remain dangerously unprepared for what happens when systems fail. Built from field experience, research, and tested resilience strategies, the system is designed to help ordinary households develop extraordinary readiness — without requiring military training, specialized gear, or ideological commitment. The core values behind Dark Reset are clarity, stewardship, and adaptability. Its creators emphasize that the point is not to fear collapse, but to lead through it. By distilling years of study, firsthand experience, and spiritual reflection into a clear, implementable framework, the program offers a counterpoint to both panic-driven prepping and passive optimism. It's not about bunkers or bug-out fantasies. It's about the confidence that comes from being prepared, quiet, and calm when others are not. While rooted in tactical realism, the system is also unapologetically grounded in faith. Many of its principles are drawn from scriptural narratives — the foresight to store grain, the wisdom to prepare in times of peace, and the duty to protect those under one's care. That framing has made it especially relevant to faith-based communities looking for guidance that bridges both the spiritual and the practical. Dark Reset remains independently published, free from commercial sponsorship or institutional ties. Its creators made a deliberate decision to prioritize accessibility and utility over branding and polish. The result is a system that speaks directly to those who are already watching the signs — and who prefer action over theory. In an age of increasing volatility and digital fragility, Dark Reset positions itself not as the answer to every threat, but as a starting point. A framework. A tested roadmap for households who understand that resilience isn't just physical — it's mental, emotional, and moral. Learn more at the official Dark Reset: Survival Before the Silence resource page. Contact Product: Dark Reset Email: support@ Website: Final Disclaimer This press release is for informational purposes only. The content herein does not constitute financial, legal, or medical advice. Dark Reset is not intended to diagnose, treat, predict, or guarantee any result or outcome. Individual experiences may vary, and outcomes are not assured. Some links in this release may be promotional in nature and may lead to third-party websites. The publisher or author may receive compensation through affiliate commissions if a purchase is made through these links. This compensation does not affect the price you pay and helps support continued research and content publication. All statements made about product features, platform strategies, or training content reflect publicly available information, user discussions, or historical trends, and are not endorsed or validated by regulatory bodies. Please perform your own research before making financial, technological, or purchasing decisions. CONTACT: Email: support@
