Founded in 2022, Temu, a marketplace that offers discounted consumer goods shipped directly from China, has recently begun to gain popularity, including among Ukrainians. However, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin says that Temu is actually a “dangerous malware” that secretly monetizes large amounts of unauthorized user data, ArsTechnica writes.
Griffin has filed a lawsuit accusing the developers of adding the ability to gain unlimited access to user data, including but not limited to access to the camera, location, contacts, messages, and documents. According to the Attorney General, this allows developers to spy on users by collecting their data.
In addition, Griffin also accuses Temu of selling the collected user data later. According to the lawsuit, a particular risk here is that the marketplace is owned by the Chinese company PDD Holdings, which is legally obliged to share data with the Chinese government.
In addition, the marketplace is also accused of selling low-quality, cheap products and luring users by adding features that keep them in the program, such as spinning the wheel for deals. They do this in order to collect as much data as possible.
“The allegations in the lawsuit are based on misinformation circulated online, primarily from a short-seller, and are totally unfounded. We categorically deny the allegations and will vigorously defend ourselves,” Temu representatives said.
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