Apple Removes Popular Tea Apps After Breaches

Apple removed the dating apps Tea Dating Advice (Tea) and TeaOnHer from the App Store worldwide after finding violations of App Review Guidelines 1.2, 5.1.2 and 5.6 related to user-generated content moderation, unauthorized sharing of personal information and an excessive volume of complaints including reports of minors’ data. The removals follow security breaches this summer that exposed selfies, photo IDs, private messages and other user data and have spawned lawsuits and widespread privacy concerns. Apple said the developers failed to implement required reporting, blocking and moderation tools and did not address privacy lapses after warnings, so it pulled both apps; both remain available on Google Play. The apps have attracted millions of downloads — roughly 6.1 million for Tea and 2.2 million for TeaOnHer — and have generated copycat apps on Apple’s platform. Developers have not publicly responded, and Apple says apps can be reinstated after fixes, though given the scope of the breaches and the apps’ operational model a return appears uncertain.