Tea Dating Advice, a popular dating app, has confirmed that 72,000 images, including 13,000 user images submitted during account verification, were accessed in a data storage breach. Rachel Tobac, CEO and co-founder of SocialProof Security, told CNN that selfies, while seemingly innocuous, could be used to hack bank accounts and other programs when coupled with government-issued identification. Tobac recommended that Tea users consider freezing their credit, using data brokerage site removal tools, making social media accounts private, using a password manager, and multifactor authentication.
Identity verification or age verification has become increasingly popular but is a risky choice for companies. Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, recommended that consumers think twice about sharing data with companies because “opting out is really the best protection we have.” Tea is hardly the first dating-related service to have a security breach, with Tinder and Ashley Madison having similar issues in 2014 and 2015. Some companies and governments have taken action, such as Tinder offering a verification process using government-issued documents and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing a law requiring Google and Apple to verify app store users’ ages.
