Remember when the old phrase “There’s an app for that” got popular? Years ago, the world of smart phone apps was significantly smaller than it is today (Apple’s App Store opened in 2008 with 500 apps, compared to 1.8 million today). Doubtful that anyone in Apple’s marketing team back then could have realized the true size and variety of apps 16 years later.
The latest problematic app is one called Tea Dating Advice. Tea was created so that women would have a network to talk about their dates – check to see if anyone else has dated Joe Blow, and if he is a nice guy or abusive or a nerd. Created back in 2022, this app to date has four million users. This app seems to have struck a chord with women looking for a way to do some investigating without needing to hire a private eye or utilizing a circle of friends. Tea is geared towards women and only allow women users, verifying this by mandating users submit pictures of their IDs and selfies to match.
Recently, you didn’t need a private eye or even a private browser to learn more about the users of the app than they were finding out about their dates. Thousands of women were exposed when these same selfies and IDs were discovered to be warehoused on a Google data storage app which had been set up as a public page. Public page meaning it had no protections at all. The developers of the app have been calling it a “breach” of security, but is it really a breach if there is no sort of barrier in the first place? Now creative and malicious players on the internet are able to take all this information, such as home addresses on a driver’s license, and plot it on a map of the United States.
The dangers of using the internet increase by the day. Readers by now know my opposition to increased internet usage, AI programs, and social media. Tea has shown that it has its own deficiency, but also illustrates a deficiency among the public as a whole. This is the high amount of trust in internet-based apps. No one should be submitting their ID to almost any app available to the public. Folks need to get off these apps and do things the old-fashioned way. Get outside, hit the pavement, do the investigation yourself. Even dating apps aren’t worth the time, in my book (except maybe if you’re trying to find love in remote areas like the Alaskan bush. The advantage of cell service in this case is probably a benefit). Meeting someone in person is likely a great way to see what kind of person you’ll be dealing with.
Sources:
Bayou Observant 