‘Temu is not an online marketplace like Amazon or Walmart. It’s a data theft business,’ Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin says. Temu denies the claims.
The top prosecutor in Arkansas warned on July 2 that Americans should be wary of using the Temu marketplace app because it’s effectively a “data theft business.”
“The threat from China is not new, and it is real,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin told Fox Business on July 2, a week after his office filed a lawsuit against the company. “Temu is not an online marketplace like Amazon or Walmart. It’s a data theft business that sells goods as a means to an end.”
He said that it’s “common for an online marketplace like Amazon, like Walmart, to collect certain consumer data as part of the normal course of business. I think we all know that that’s not what’s going on here.”
Instead, the company is using malware and spyware to “get into your phone, your device, and to collect your data,” Mr. Griffin told the outlet.
“Not just traditional consumer data, but using malware, spyware to have complete access to your information. And [taking it] one step further, their code is written in such a way to evade detection,” he said.
Temu is operated by Shanghai, China-based parent company Pinduoduo Inc., which includes “former Chinese communist officials” in its ranks, Mr. Griffin said.
The lawsuit, filed against the firm’s parent company, is seeking a jury trial as well as a permanent block against Temu’s data-collection activities. It also seeks a $10,000 fine for each violation of an Arkansas state law known as the Deceptive Practices Act.
The suit primarily cites research from Grizzly Research, which analyzes publicly traded firms, and alleges that Temu can “purposely … gain unrestricted access to a user’s phone operating system, including, but not limited to, a user’s camera, specific location, contacts, text messages, documents, and other applications.”
In its report, Grizzly Research said that it suspects that Temu is “already, or intends to, illegally sell stolen data from Western country customers to sustain a business model that is otherwise doomed for failure.”
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