Popular shopping app gives Chicoms access to Americans’ data, new lawsuit alleges

The widely popular Chinese shopping app Temu operates as “malware” designed to collect Americans’ data, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.

Republican Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers sued Temu, along with its parent company PDD Holdings, in state court for allegedly making Americans’ information accessible to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“Temu has flooded the United States with cheap products, but those products come with a one-two punch to Americans,” the lawsuit alleges.

“First, Temu’s app operates as malware; its code is designed to exfiltrate an enormous amount of sensitive information, from access to a user’s microphone, pictures,  messages, to information sufficient to track their movements,” it states. “Second, Temu’s platform fuels a whole host of other harms. The examples are legion: the platform is awash in products infringing copyrights and other intellectual property, Temu engages in ‘greenwashing,’ and it has platformed sellers who use forced labor for the production of goods. ”

Information Temu collects without the user’s knowledge includes GPS data, other apps installed on the phone, accounts used on other apps, and Wi-Fi or cell data networks the device connects to, according to the lawsuit.

Non-U.S. users made up 90% of the app’s 405 million worldwide users in quarter two, according to CNBC. Daily active U.S. users dropped 52% in May when compared to March, the outlet reported.

Temu initially launched in the U.S. in July 2022.

Americans should remember “when a deal involving the Chinese Communist Party sounds too good to be true, it usually is,” said Michael Lucci, founder and CEO of the CCP watchdog State Armor.

“That is exactly what is happening when Temu engages in retail sales for the purpose of data extraction,” he said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Temu offers low prices on everyday items, courtesy of slave labor, as bait to induce Americans to download their malicious app onto their phones. Like TikTok, Temu’s terms of service give the CCP unlimited access to American data, creating a major threat to user privacy and national security.”

The lawsuit’s allegations are “without merit and appear to be a rehash of misinformation circulated online, much of it originating from a short-seller,” a Temu spokesperson told the DCNF.

“We categorically deny the allegations and will vigorously defend ourselves against them,” the spokesperson said. “At Temu, we strive to help consumers and families access quality products at affordable prices. We work to keep prices stable and supply reliably so people can meet their needs without overextending their budgets.”

Congress passed a law in April 2024 requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest from the platform or have it banned in the U.S., which the Supreme Court upheld in January. However, President Donald Trump has extended the deadline twice and has suggested he would also extend the current June 19 deadline.

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