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When it comes to Chinese e-commerce apps doing business in America, a bargain that seems too good to be true likely is too good to be true. A $14 Cowboys jersey and running shoes for less than $8 aren't such great bargains when you factor in the price of losing your personal data to a hostile foreign government. When purchases are made on sites like Temu, let's call them what they really are: threats to your private information and America's broader national security.
The e-commerce app known as Temu is deeply connected with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). And ever since its United States launch in 2022, numerous lawsuits and experts allege it has been quietly but aggressively harvesting American consumers' personal data, free from any backlash and regulation at the state or federal level. That must change.
Tens of millions of Americans have interacted with TikTok, another Chinese app, and have recently learned of the serious data security and privacy risks it poses. That's why its parent company was recently required to sell it or risk being banned in the United States. Prior to that, more than 30 state governments banned the app on state-issued devices and broadband services. But make no mistake; Temu poses as big a risk to Americans as TikTok.
The CCP uses every means possible to infiltrate the United States, exert control over our supply chains, gain access to U.S. citizens' private information, and generally develop long-term tools of economic coercion. The evidence is vast and growing—and apps like Temu are part of the strategy.
According to a high-profile class-action lawsuit, Temu has "wiretapped the electronic communications of its website visitors, and failed to alert customers of a data breach." The lawsuit also alleges that Temu knowingly loaded malware and spyware onto users' devices. It also says that Temu "is purposefully and intentionally loaded with tools to execute dangerous malware and spyware activities on user devices." The app is so invasive that it's even designed to harvest users' personal photos and videos, cybersecurity experts warn.
Temu gains access to "literally everything on your phone," and "bypasses phone security systems to read a user's private messages, make changes to the phone's settings and track notifications," according to the complaint in a class-action lawsuit filed in February.
It gets far worse.
Under China's 2017 intelligence law, Beijing can access sensitive information held by Chinese firms anytime it wishes, effectively erasing the line between companies like Temu and the CCP. China's use of apps for spying is pervasive. Temu's sister app, Pinduoduo, was removed from Google's app store in 2023 for privacy and data security violations, amid charges that the app was being used to spy on users and competitors.
By January, more than 50 million Americans had downloaded the Temu app, unknowingly making their personal information fully available to the CCP. Additionally, they stand exposed to the threat of fraud, data compromise, cyberattacks, and the nightmare of identity theft. In February, Temu dropped some serious cash on Super Bowl ads. If unaddressed, the threat will only grow.
Consumers may also be shocked to learn that Temu has no system in place to ensure compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, virtually ensuring that many of those bargain-priced goods delivered to Americans' homes were made by Uyghur slave labor.
There are few threats to the United States more significant than the CCP. Fortunately, positive steps to counter its influence have been taken on the state level. On June 25, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced a first-in-the-nation state lawsuit against Temu for violating the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Arkansas Personal Information Protection Act. Griffin described Temu as "a data-theft business that sells goods online as a means to an end."
But state leaders across the country need to do more to neutralize Temu's malign activities in their states, secure their citizens' personal data, prohibit products that are built with slave labor, and rid themselves of foreign threats. State attorneys general can follow Attorney General Griffin's lead to prevent fraud and protect Americans' personal data, while governors can ensure the Temu app is banned on state-issued devices and public broadband services, just as they did with TikTok. State legislatures should investigate Temu's abuse of their states' consumers, issue the appropriate warnings based on the findings, and codify state data protections along with prohibitions on selling products built with slave labor.
What Temu presents as a bargain is an awful deal for America and its consumers. It represents one more attempt by the CCP to undermine America's national security and surreptitiously steal private data from American citizens. State leaders have a responsibility to sound the alarm and protect their citizens without delay.
Michael Lucci is the Founder and CEO of State Armor, a non-profit advocating for policy solutions to the global threats posed by the America's adversaries.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
