Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has filed suit against the Chinese company Temu, alleging the platform violates the consumer protections of Americans.
Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, based in China. The platform allows users to purchase low-cost goods manufactured in China through the app and online. The lawsuit filed by Nebraska's attorney general lays out two main areas in which Temu violates consumer privacy and rights.
First, Temu’s app operates as malware; its code is designed to exfiltrate an enormous amount of sensitive information, from access to a user’s microphone, pictures, and messages, to information sufficient to track their movements. The app is further designed to avoid detection from white-hat operators. This sensitive information that is unlawfully exfiltrated to Temu naturally flows to its powerful patron—the Chinese Communist Party. In the United States’s great power competition with China, Temu presents yet another way in which China can extract and exploit information about Americans for its own purposes."
The Temu app accesses user information outside of the app without explicit consent from the user. The app is capable of tracking the user's location with an accuracy range of 10 feet. Because Temu is a China-based company, the government of China can demand data possessed by, controlled by, or accessible to Temu at any time by law. The lawsuit also details the secondary harms of the platform.
Second, Temu’s platform fuels a whole host of other harms. The examples are legion: the platform is awash in products infringing copyrights and other intellectual property, Temu engages in “greenwashing,” and it has platformed sellers who use forced labor for the production of goods."
Temu launched in the United States in 2022. By 2023, after aggressive marketing campaigns and word-of-mouth advertisement, Temu was the most downloaded app in the United States.
"Temu is sort of like a cheap Amazon with cheap goods," said Attorney General Mike Hilgers in an appearance on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "And as we know, cheap things do oftentimes come with a price."
In addition to malware issues and consumer exploitation, Temu does not have an age verification requirement, despite selling many items marketed specifically towards children. The terms and conditions of Temu dictate that “[c]hildren under 13 years are not permitted to use Temu or the Services," but there is no age verification preventing minors under 13 from accessing the site.
“Temu is putting Nebraskans’ privacy at risk and running a platform rife with deceptive listings, unlawful promotional practices, and products that rip off Nebraska brands and creations,” said Attorney General Mike Hilgers. “Our office will hold Temu accountable for its exploitation of Nebraska consumers, brands, and creators and fight hard for honesty and safety in the online marketplace.”
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