It really is...

I feel that the original post is sorta scrambling for a narrative when this level of narrativising really isn't necessary to talk about the issues at hand.

even then the things worth actually talking about is not the "hack" itself but the things some people chose to do with the leaked data.

Just dumping everything on a public accessible server and someone stumbling upon it is not hacking. That's neglect from tea.

That's like putting all your belongings out on the street and calling it a break-in when the stuff is gone the next morning.

Reminder: this community has a rule that only women are permitted to comment or post.
- I think there should be an exception for ragebait.
Victim blaming. Well done. Another excellent example.
- The victims are the users. Not Tea. Tea fucked up they are completely to blame for this. Not sure why you think the victims are being blamed here.
- How is this victim blaming? The users are victims of tea's complete lack of regard for security and the fuckers who took advantage of it. Tea is not a victim, tea was negligent in their duty to the victims.
- In what way exactly is this victim blaming?

Aside from the astounding negligence of the app team, it wouldn't have been necessary if we had strong communities and supports for people in the first place. No one should be worried about their safety on a date.

Yeah, there are whisper networks but a lot of them are gatekeepy and victim blamey, sadly.
- That's one of the worse things about speaking out, people think it's a lie or an exaggeration. Or it gets out, and blowback from that can be worse than the incident.
That's a really interesting point

Hi I'm here for the mandatory "don't fall for the "hack" excuse" PSA :

Even in case of a hack, a company making money of their user as the responsibility to protect them from this kind of thing. In the case of tea it's especially worse since no "hack" took place, they left all of their data exposed on a server. But even if a sofisticated hack had occurred you shouldn't left tea of the hook, tea didn't provide any content the users did. So the company owes you data protection because they were making money of your content.

Do you mean it's their responsibility philosophically or legally? Because those are very different concepts

Feel free to delete as I'm not a woman and I know the rules of this community. But I feel like context is important here.

https://www.404media.co/how-teas-founder-convinced-millions-of-women-to-spill-their-secrets-then-exposed-them-to-the-world/

"A 404 Media investigation reveals how the man who started Tea, the ‘women dating safety’ app, tried to hire a female ‘face’ for the company and then hijack her grassroots community."

It's two words long. It's perfectly clear. Not even my 6-year old EFL students could misunderstand this rule.
And yet there's always some bollocks-scratching asshat, well-meaning or otherwise, who thinks their pearls of wisdom are so important that they simply must speak in a zone that explicitly NOT FOR THEM.
Ladies, I present to you our "allies".
Hey Rico thanks for sharing! That's really interesting info. Obviously don't comment again, but I appreciate the respectful, helpful comment🫂
- ~~No sarcams ever escaped your lips I am sure.~~ Edit : my bad I didn't read the rules of the community. That no sarcasm. Off I go sry.

i mean yes but wasn't the app started by sean cook, a tech capitalist? i don't know if it was developed by women. their website only lists one other woman who leads socials but nothing on the dev team.

Agree, though Tea really should have invested more in security.

As decq pointed out, they didn't actually invest anything in security.
- Mhm, yes. Any apps like this really should hire security experts before they even start.

You’re right on the technical front and absolutely fucking wrong on the social front. Yikes.
Hey Backpack welcome to WomensStuff! You've broken several rules so you're now banned. Have a good day ❤️

i think a properly moderated app for these things should be considered, but i dont think it needs to be women only

It's something that is much more needed for women than for men.
- by not women only, my emphasis was about folks like nonbinary, transmasc, etc that may not fit "women" label. i dont know how the app worked so maybe it wasn't exclusionary like that idk.
  this also goes for who the "tea" can be about, it does look from the little i read that this was about tea about men. which i feel is also not a necessary exclusion