Let's Talk About Tea

the app, of course

Dating has never been more different than it is now. In our modern world, not only do we have dating apps such as Tinder and Hinge, but our access to social media has allowed us to have a round the clock connection with friends, family, and even strangers. Apps like Snapchat or Instagram have created another way to find a partner or fling with features like quick add or the “suggested for you” column on Instagram. It is no wonder that it can be hard to judge someone when sometimes, the only way we get to know them is through their online presence, which can be a danger in itself.

That’s where Tea comes in.

Launched in 2023 (although some sources say 2022), Tea Dating Advice was pitched as a social networking and dating surveillance app that allows exclusively women to post personal data about men in their surrounding area. The creator of the app, Sean Cook, was motivated to create a modern “whisper network” after seeing his mother’s harsh experiences with online dating. This led to the Tea app, a place where women can share photos of men they had dated. Here, they can comment, conduct background checks, search up their criminal records, search for sex offenders, and rate men with either red or green flags in a “Yelp!” review style. The app is similar to that of the “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” Facebook groups, where women can talk about men they have dated and spill any “tea” they have on guys they have dated (hence the title “Tea”). Although there are positives to the Tea app, many ethical debates have opened up around it regarding privacy, defamation, and other legal concerns. This has led to the app undergoing multiple incidents since the sudden peak of its popularity.

Despite launching in 2023, the Tea app did not become popular until July 25, 2025. Tea became popular due to social media promotion from women discovering the app, which led to it becoming the number one app on the App Store. The same day it reached number one, a massive data breach was confirmed by 404Media, which confirmed that the location where personal information was stored was not secure. This event caused a breach of 72,000 images (including 13,000 selfies and photo IDs, and 59,000 images from app posts and direct messages). The data breach affected users who had signed up before February 2024, yet the leaked data caused many locations and homes to be exposed online as well as personal images, conversations about abortions and cheating partners, as well as private data. A rating website, created by men to rank the women whose data was breached (titled “Tea Spill”) allowed users to rate women based on the leaked images. Tea Spill was taken down soon after it was created.

The whole kerfuffle went even deeper, as people soon learned that Tea violated their own privacy policy. Their privacy policy explained that user selfies for verification are “securely processed and stored only temporarily and will be deleted immediately following the completion of the verification process.” This was not the case. According to Tea, 13,000 of the breached images were from users verifying their images months ago. Due to this violation, some women attempted to sue the Tea app. At least 10 women sued the Tea app on August 7, 2025 in both federal and state courts, claiming Tea was careless in their security and violated a contract. Even after the data breach, women continued using the Tea App, including college students and younger women. Those who downloaded it would keep it even after being removed from some services.

The Tea App was finally removed from the Apple App Store in October 2025 after failing to meet Apple’s content moderation standards and user privacy terms. This privacy policy included the sharing of minor’s private information on the app. The app is still available on the Android App Store and the Google Play Store.

After everything this app has gone through and the controversy it has caused, it may confound people to hear that some women still use Tea. Not only does the app lack security and slip past some privacy laws; it can create a greater divide between the sexes, which is a growing division in society today. Apps like these may lead to anger and frustration from men and encourage gossip from women, especially since anyone can lie on the app and spread rumors, which has led some to argue it is a defamation case. Still, news surrounding the app has been quiet as of late, and any information about it is vague at most. For female college students and students at Bismarck State College, this does not matter. Many continue to use the app today. While it is a helpful tool, it is important to be mindful of what information to take from it. Responsibility is key when it comes to the Tea app, and there is no need to spread rumors or hate through it. The app should be used how it was intended. It is not meant to hurt the reputation of others or gossip. Use it with the intent to inform other women, and stay safe.