A dating safety app exclusively for women has faced a major data breach as thousands of member’s images have been exposed by hackers.

Tea Dating Advice is a US-based app designed for women to conduct background checks and share important information about men they run into on other dating apps in an effort to make online dating safer for women.

The app has 1.6 million users, but hackers gained access to around 72,000 imaged issued by women, often used for identification verification. Many of the images, therefore, include photo IDs, even though Tea says in their privacy policy that these images are deleted immediately after they are authenticated.

Members who signed up before February 2024 were affected by the breach, Tea said, assuring users it “acted fast” as it collaborated with “some of the most trusted cybersecurity experts” to mitigate the impact.

The app, which was released in 2023, garnered new notoriety recently as more and more women signed up to the app. However, it also faced criticism for being anti-men.

The app doubles as a security checker and a confidant – women can check if potential partners are registered sex offenders or married, as well as run reverse image checks to see if potential dates are catfishing them.

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Tea also lets women share information with other users about men they have been on dates with to warn other women of potentially problematic or dangerous behaviour, but also allows women to share positive stories about men.

While Tea says that the current breach cannot be connected to posts, and the firm blocks screenshots of posts so they cannot be shared outside of the app, the recent breach challenges these protections.

Tea disclosed that a further 59,000 imaged from the app which showed posts, direct messages, and comments from over two years ago were accessed in the breach.

Tea said it was “taking every step to protect this community – now and always.”