In a bold legal move, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese shopping app Temu, alleging it is effectively malware and spyware designed to steal data from American consumers. The lawsuit accuses Temu and its parent company, PDD Holdings, of engaging in deceptive trade practices with their aggressive data-collection policies.
“Though it is known as an e-commerce platform, Temu is functionally malware and spyware,” Griffin declared in a statement. “It is purposefully designed to gain unrestricted access to a user’s phone operating system. It can override data privacy settings on users’ devices and monetizes this unauthorized collection of data.”
The lawsuit highlights previous incidents, such as Google temporarily suspending PDD’s Pinduoduo app after discovering malware in versions not available on the Play Store, and Apple pulling Temu from the iOS App Store for privacy violations. While the document lacks direct evidence of spying, it references third-party groups, including a short-selling firm, alarmed by the extensive data Temu allegedly collects.
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Is Temu spying on Americans?
Griffin also expressed concerns over national security, claiming that Temu is led by former Chinese Communist Party officials, potentially allowing the Chinese government to compel the app to spy on Americans.
These allegations are reminiscent of the claims made against TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The US passed a law in April to ban TikTok due to similar spying fears, potentially leading to its removal from app stores next year.
Griffin’s lawsuit seeks to halt Temu’s data collection practices and impose civil penalties. Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to investigate and ban Temu over alleged connections to forced labor and intellectual property theft.
Temu has yet to respond to a request for comment, but a company spokesperson told Fox Business that Griffin’s lawsuit was conducted “without any independent fact-finding.”
