Ask HN: Why is "Tea" still on the App Store after so many data breaches?

Rules are made up, and only apply to regular people.

As long as Apple collects their cut of popular apps through in app purchases,

They don't care, and nobody cares.

But they should.

Tea will just update the app / force update the app to fix these issues.

Because Apple's stance on protecting users only covers cases supporting the App Store walled garden or such that make you buy a new phone. If anything, it's good to keep it on the store - so many people are searching for it, seeing and clicking ads.

I see many breaches and people still use the products. Even tech stuff: people knowingly using tech/dev products of people who are either sloppy, plain incompetent or both. I don't get it but here we are.

Tbh this is possible only in software. No matter what you do - epic incompetence, leak user data, doxx users, basically allow their identities to be stolen etc - zero consequences.

Kinda crazy. In any other industry they would not even allow you in the door without showing some king of understanding what you do.

You can't even sell hotdogs without food license. But in software - wild west.

Privacy is a fundamental human right.*

*Unless your app has an IAP and is wildly popular, then we don’t mind

As a man who's always considered himself a strong feminist, I think that tea's issue are way more profound that just some data breach.

Women were convinced to trust the app as a safe space, but it never was for various reasons. First, as proven by the breach, privacy was not guaranteed. Second, I do not see how a women-only app made to complain on men can help any men get better in their behavior, instead of balcanizing society even more, creating camps and hatred. This is not safe in itself. It won't further women's condition in their relationship with men. It alienates men even more, gives arguments to the Jordan Peterson-style toxic masculinity influencers, and inevitably fosters toxic behavior in women too.

Just a fyi, but it is not available in eu

Because Apple carefully vets all apps and that's why it must be allowed to maintain its App Store monopoly!

Tea is too big too fail, that's why Apple doesn't pull the plug otherwise they would anger a good portion of their angry female user base.

Related: Tea app leak worsens with second database exposing user chats (bleepingcomputer.com) | 120 points by akyuu 1 day ago | 145 comments | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44716529

Because there is no punishment for handling data with so much carelesness. If there was a law which seriously punished them, the app would be long gone. That's what you get when the tech bros dictate how the legislation should work

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The app provides doxxing as a service, not sure why Apple would start worrying about data breaches for such an App.

because Apple doesn't care.

Doxxing as a service is OK for Google/Apple if you market it as safety for their favored audiences against disfavored audiences.

Couldn't one ask the same question about Facebook?

The same reason that Microsoft products are still in the App Store after so many breaches. Because having a security breach is not part of the App Store equation.

I don't know, but I don't want Apple exercising even more draconian control over what apps I have on my Apple devices.

If I want to use an app with a horrendous security track record, I should be able to. See also: the plethora of other popular apps with horrendous security track records.

So, be careful what you ask for.

The demographics of the app and its owner tick all the right boxes for a company like Apple, but even then, less serious violations would earn an app an insta-ban. My guess is the owner has friends in high places who are pulling strings in his favor.

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