History of Tea (app) in Timeline

Tea, or Tea Dating Advice, is a dating surveillance app for women to share personal data about men they are dating or interested in. Founded by Sean Cook, the app became well-known after experiencing three major data leaks in July and August 2025. These leaks exposed user data and raised significant privacy concerns regarding the app's security measures and data handling practices.

2023: ID Upload Requirement Removed

In 2023, the Tea Dating Advice app removed the requirement for users to upload an ID, while claiming that users remain anonymous.

July 2025: Sean Cook's Inspiration

In July 2025, Sean Cook, the founder of Tea Dating Advice, stated that his inspiration for creating the app came from his mother's online dating experiences.

July 2025: Massive Data Leak via 4chan

In July 2025, a significant data breach occurred on the Tea app, with private messages and approximately 72,000 images leaked via 4chan. Following this, 1.1 million private messages were leaked due to a separate security vulnerability.

July 2025: Tea App Rise to Prominence

In July 2025, the Tea Dating Advice app, founded by Sean Cook, gained prominence due to multiple major data leaks.

August 2025: Lawsuits and Further Data Leaks

By August 7, 2025, ten class action lawsuits were filed against the Tea app due to data leaks. A further leak was reported later that month, exacerbating the app's legal and reputational challenges.

August 2025: Investigation of Company Background

In August 2025, 404 Media conducted an investigation that suggested that Sean Cook's account of the historical background of the company was inaccurate.

August 2025: Data Leaks

In August 2025, Tea Dating Advice experienced major data leaks, impacting user privacy and security.

August 2025: Controversy and the Emergence of TeaOnHer

In August 2025, the Tea app faced both praise for aiding women's safety and criticism for privacy violations and potential defamation. A similar app, TeaOnHer, described as the male version of Tea, was created. The Tea app also reported a data breach in August 2025.

October 2025: Removal from Apple App Store

In October 2025, Apple removed the Tea app from its App Store due to failures in content moderation and user privacy, citing a high volume of complaints, including allegations of sharing minors' personal information. However, the app remained available on the Android app store.