Arkansas GOP Attorney General Tim Griffin has filed suit against the Chinese mobile shopping app Temu for violating fraud and personal information law, the attorney general's office announced on Tuesday.
"Temu is not an online marketplace like Amazon or Walmart. It is a data-theft business that sells goods online as a means to an end," Griffin said in a statement, noting that Temu is "led by a cadre of former Chinese Communist Party officials, which raises significant security risks to our country and our citizens."
The lawsuit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cleburne County, alleges that Temu is "purposely designed to gain unrestricted access to a user's phone operating system" including the user's camera, location contacts, text messages and other applications. In addition to bypassing privacy data settings, the suit also alleges that "even users without the Temu app are subject to Temu's gross overreach if any of their information is on the phone of a Temu user."
All Chinese companies are legally required to share data they gather from customers or any other source with the Communist Party, and by extension The People's Liberation Army, Breitbart News noted.
"While this is the first state lawsuit against Temu over its deceptive trade practices, it is not the first time Temu's tactics have been called into question. Apple suspended Temu from its digital app store in 2023, prompting multiple investigations into the company's dealings, including an ongoing investigation being conducted by the U.S. Congress," Griffin's statement continued.
A June 2023 report by the House Select Committee on China's Communist Party found that Temu and Chinese clothing shopping app Shein accounted for more than 30% of all packages shipped to the U.S. daily under the de minimis exemption. The de minimus exception allows parcels valued under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free per person per day.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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