10 Women Have Sued The Tea App After The Safe Space Was Hacked And Photos Were Leaked Online

The Tea app, made for women to anonymously stock accusation astir men successful their areas pinch different women, has been deed pinch 10 imaginable people action lawsuits successful national and authorities courts after a information breach led to nan leak of thousands of selfies, ID photos and backstage conversations online.

All of nan lawsuits allege that Tea Dating Advice Inc., nan institution that created nan Tea app, was negligent successful its information practices and breached a statement pinch its users.

The suits could consequence successful Tea having to salary tens of millions of dollars successful damages to nan plaintiffs, which could beryllium catastrophic for nan company, an master told NBC News.

A Tea spokesperson declined to remark connected nan lawsuits.

The app gained fame successful precocious July and climbed to nan apical of nan Apple App Store arsenic galore women sought to stock accusation pinch different women astir men they were making love aliases had dated. The app allows its users to upload photos of men, deem them “red flags” aliases “green flags” and stock different accusation astir them. As of Tuesday, nan app was still classed 3rd connected nan Apple App Store’s apical free apps list.

To subordinate nan app, users are required to return verification photos, which Tea has said are deleted aft they are submitted. A Tea spokesperson antecedently told NBC News that “this information was primitively stored successful compliance pinch rule enforcement requirements related to cyberbullying prevention.”

The first breach occurred July 25. A Tea spokesperson has told NBC News that it consisted of astir 72,000 images, 59,000 of which were images successful which posts, comments and nonstop messages were viewable.

404 Media reported 2 days later that Tea had knowledgeable a 2nd information issue, successful which much than 1.1 cardinal personification nonstop messages, spanning from early 2023 to past month, were exposed. Tea had confirmed to NBC News that a breach occurred successful which “some nonstop messages (DMs) were accessed arsenic portion of nan first incident.”

Scott Cole, a lawyer who is starring a suit against nan app, said his client, Griselda Reyes, signed up for nan app only days earlier nan breach happened. The suit says that Reyes had received a announcement from Tea that her information was progressive successful nan breach and that arsenic a result, she has since taken action to research “credit monitoring and personality theft security options.” A Tea spokesperson antecedently said nan breach would person fixed entree to a “dataset from anterior to February 2024.”

On Tuesday, a judge granted a mobility an anonymous plaintiff had revenge for her lawsuit to beryllium mixed pinch Reyes’ and 3 others.

“Her peculiar concerns person much to do pinch accusation that she has shared pinch others connected nan tract and really that mightiness travel backmost to haunt her successful nan future, and I deliberation that’s astir apt nan No. 1 interest that I’ve heard straight aliases indirectly from users,” Cole said.

One of nan suits lists nan right-wing online chat committee 4chan and nan societal level X arsenic defendants, alleging that they allowed bad actors to dispersed users’ individual information. The time earlier nan breach, users connected 4chan had called for a “hack and leak” campaign. On nan time of nan leak, a 4chan personification had posted a nexus that nan suit alleges allowed group to download nan database of images, immoderate of which appeared to later move connected X.

On X, users began to move a nexus to a website called TeaSpill that allowed group to rank nan photos of nan women based connected attractiveness. X and 4chan did not respond to requests for comment.

The plaintiff successful nan suit against Tea, X and 4chan, who is listed anonymously arsenic Jane Doe, joined nan app “to anonymously pass different women successful her Northern California organization astir a man who sexually assaulted astatine slightest 2 different women.”

“The app promised her that anonymity. It promised her safety. It promised to delete her verification data. Tea collapsed each 1 of those promises,” nan suit reads.

Five of nan plaintiffs successful nan suits are named, while 5 are listed anonymously arsenic Jane Doe.

John Yanchunis, an lawyer for a personification who revenge different lawsuit anonymously arsenic Jane Doe connected Thursday, said his customer has faced immense harassment online because of nan breach.

“Because of nan breach, immoderate very delicate accusation became publically available, and that led definite individuals to prosecute successful online harassment,” he said. “That’s been devastating to her, arsenic it would beryllium to immoderate individual to beryllium nan taxable of ridicule. She has suffered affectional distress and has had to return steps to guarantee that she tin take sides arsenic champion she tin against some nan attacks arsenic good arsenic nan ongoing threat to personality theft.”

Brian Fitzpatrick, a professor astatine Vanderbilt Law School who specializes successful people action suits, said it tin beryllium easy to beryllium that defendants are liable for information breaches successful akin people action lawsuits but harder to beryllium damages, specified arsenic that people’s information is being utilized maliciously.

But Fitzpatrick said nan ways users person been circulating Tea users’ accusation online, including 1 who is alleged to person created a map pinch Tea users’ location addresses, Tea could person a harder clip fighting harm claims.

At slightest 4 of nan suits activity astatine slightest $5 cardinal successful damages, though nan amounts awarded could climb overmuch higher.

Fitzpatrick said that, arsenic successful galore information breach suits against awesome companies for illustration MGM Resorts and T-Mobile, settlements tin scope hundreds of millions of dollars.

He said specified cases typically impact millions of people members, who usually disagreement nan colony money. For a smaller institution for illustration Tea, which, according to its LinkedIn page, has only 5 employees, an adverse ruling could beryllium highly detrimental, meaning higher checks for nan suit’s people members since its personification guidelines is still comparatively mini compared pinch those of larger companies.

“We whitethorn not cognize if it will go an existent arsenic opposed to imaginable people action for months aliases moreover years,” Fitzpatrick said. “All nan people members are automatically included. They will beryllium fixed an opportunity to opt out, but if they do not, they are included.”

Many of nan suits person classified their people members arsenic those who are “similarly situated” arsenic nan plaintiffs. One of nan suits sounds that its people members “are truthful galore that joinder of each members is impracticable,” but that it estimates that it is “composed of millions of individuals who person been damaged” by nan Tea app.

The company’s founder, Sean Cook, said successful a Medium interview successful May that he started Tea aft he saw his mom’s making love experiences, including “how easy it was for catfish, scammers and criminals to return advantage of women connected making love apps and really small accepted making love apps do to protect users.”

According to his LinkedIn page, Cook created and “self-funded” Tea successful November 2022. Before that,he worked successful exertion successful San Francisco since 2019.

Yanchunis and Cole said it is difficult to estimate really overmuch a suit against Tea could beryllium settled for, arsenic nan numbers of people members for nan suits are still developing. Tea’s website says nan app has complete 6 cardinal users.

“It could beryllium much of an existential threat to their existence,” Fitzpatrick said. “Not possibly truthful overmuch because of nan magnitude of money that they mightiness person to pay, but conscionable because, I think, this is atrocious for their reputation. I don’t cognize if group are going to spot them anymore, and truthful they mightiness suffer each their users.”

Yanchunis said these cases disagree from galore different information breach cases because of nan sensitivity of nan information.

“What’s unsocial present is nan measurement this app promoted nan information and information of nan platform, and truthful group successful this type of app are going to uncover things that they mightiness not different uncover astatine large,” he said. “I mightiness show a woman thing that I wouldn’t show anybody else, because we’re successful a adjacent relationship. So that benignant of accusation done this app tin beryllium disclosed, and it could beryllium very devastating erstwhile it’s revealed, arsenic it was successful this situation.”

A personification of nan app, who requested anonymity because of information concerns, told NBC News that they had been connected nan app since precocious 2023 and had felt very anxious and paranoid since nan breach.

“Originally, nan app was started for women, and I don’t deliberation they should person told nan men astir it,” nan personification said. “People should consciousness free to subordinate nan app and publication nan absorbing comments, and if not, past you return that app down.”