TEA App Data Breaches: What We Know About Class Action Lawsuits
Tea, women’s dating safety app It surged to the top of freedom iOS The App Store list suffered a major security breach last week. The company confirmed Friday that it has “identified permitted access to one of our systems,” which released thousands of user images. And now we know that the DM was accessed during the violation.
Tea’s preliminary findings from the end of last week showed that the data breaches released around 72,000 images. 13,000 selfie images, as well as 59,000 images that can be published on the app from photo identifications people submitted during account verification, as well as posts, comments and direct messages.
The images were stored in a “legacy data system” that contains information from more than two years ago, the company said in a statement. “At this point, there is no evidence to suggest that current or additional user data has been affected.”
Posts on the first half of the Friday reddit and 404 Media We reported that the faces and IDs of users of the TEA app were posted on an anonymous online message board 4Chan. TEA requires users to check their identity with selfies or IDs. Therefore, the driver’s license and photographs of people’s faces are included in the leaked data.
And on Monday, a TEA spokesman confirmed to CNET that he “recently learned that some direct messages (DMs) will be accessed as part of the initial incident.” Tea also took the affected system offline. The confirmation follows a report by 404 media on Monday, and independent security researchers have discovered that it was. Hackers may have access to DMS It affects messages sent on the tea app until last week among tea users.
Tea said it has launched a full investigation to assess the scope and impact of the violation.
Class lawsuit filed
Griselda Reyes, one of the users of the TEA app, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of other tee users affected by the data breaches. According to Court documents Submitted on July 28th Previously reported by 404 mediaReyes sues tea for “information that could not be properly secured and protected…personally identifiable.”
“Suddenly after the data breaches were announced, Internet users allegedly mapped TEA users’ locations based on the metadata contained in leaked images,” the complaint alleges. “So instead of empowering women, tea is in fact at risk of serious harm.”
The TEA also has not personally notified the customer that the data has been compromised, the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint calls for class action status, damage to the “amount determined” of affected individuals, and specific requirements to improve data storage and handling practices.
Scott Edward Cole of Cole & VanNote, a law firm representing Reyes, told CNET he was “unstood” at the alleged lack of security protections being implemented.
“The application was touted as a safe place for women to share information about their dating experiences. If you know that tea dating doesn’t make that kind of effort to cybersecurity, few people take that risk,” Cole argued. “One of our main goals in our litigation is to force our company to take user privacy more seriously.”
Tea did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the class action lawsuit.
What is the tea app?
The premise of tea is to provide women with space to report negative interactions when they meet men in a dating pool, with the aim of keeping other women safe.
The app currently sits at number 2 in Apple’s US App Store free apps. chatgptattracts international attention and sparks debate about whether the app violates male privacy. Following the news of a data breaches, it also extends to a wider ongoing discussion Online identity and age verification poses inherent security risks For Internet users.
Tea said: “Tea Dating Advice will take reasonable security measures to protect your personal information to prevent loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, modification or destruction. However, please note that despite efforts, security measures are not possible.”