I built a tool to help people remove their info from the Tea App | Hacker News Reader

I built a tool to help people remove their info from the Tea App

suetea.com

27 pointsgotouted12 comments

The Tea App lets anonymous users post names, photos, and stories about men without consent. There’s no vetting, no notice, and no built-in way to get anything removed.

It markets itself as a safety app. But the reality is closer to an anonymous callout board where anyone can be exposed and labeled without proof. After a recent data breach exposed thousands of verification photos, it’s clear the risks aren’t just theoretical.

I built https://suetea.com as a response. It’s a free tool that helps people generate a legally worded takedown email to both the app’s legal team and Apple. No account required, no data stored, and it takes less than a minute to use.

We also partnered with lawyers who are taking on these cases. If they win, you share in the recovered funds. All you have to do is email them using the info on the site.

If your name or face is on that app, you have options. This tool is one of them.

Would love thoughts or feedback.

So to clarify?

The app is supposed to help automate the legal request frameworks to assist the victims of libel/slander in removal?

The bucket was available for quite a long time after the news release, so the entire database is likely mirrored in a number of legitimate places for enforcement action, or civil action, and I'm sure also a number of illegitimate places.

What will sending an email to the company do to remove data from the already leaked datasets?

> legally worded takedown email

Yes, there are legal words in there, but it just seems like hand waving towards a few _potentially_ applicable laws or class of law. Why would Tea respond to this, let alone take action?

Also, erm, gotouted is an interesting name to use to promote your service that makes claims of libel/slander.

> We also partnered with lawyers who are taking on these cases.

If they approved that letter, then you might want to "partner" with some lawyers who actually know what the fuck they're doing.

Does it issue `DeleteObjects` directly to their S3 buckets?

Is it possible to know if you are on the app without anyone of your female relatives or friends having to submit their biometrics to a company who has had one of the worst breaches ever?

If someone gets verified, how are they constrained in the data they can see? By selected location, GPS, or checking a name manually? Could a female lawyer or service provider set themselves up to be a bulk checking service somehow?

I have not seen anyone mention _any_ constraints regarding geographic location or proximity to the man in question. How would your random travel fling be able to report her experience from across the globe?

How is it possible that this app is still in Google and Apple stores? Doesn't it violate their terms and conditions?

It technically does, but as usual, the rules don't apply to everyone equally. Since it's women (good) doxxing and defaming men (bad), it's considered okay.

We need all new privacy laws to prevent the kind of consent-free sharing of people’s private information that Tea has encouraged.

Is that constitutional? A more pragmatic solution may be repealing or modifying Section 230.

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