Kentucky Alleges Temu Unlawfully Collecting Consumer Data, Sharing It With China
Online marketplace Temu is collecting Kentuckians' personally identifiable information without consent and possibly making it available to China's government, Kentucky's attorney general said Thursday. In addition, the company is stealing the intellectual property of U.S.-based companies and engaging in other kinds of consumer fraud, AG Russell Coleman (R) said in a lawsuit.
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Coleman noted a state investigation uncovered "threats to Kentuckians’ privacy and security due to code-level behaviors" in the Temu app.
"These privacy and security harms are compounded both because the Temu app is purposely designed to evade detection" and because Temu has "a portion of their operations located on mainland China, where cybersecurity laws allow the government unfettered access to data owned by Chinese businesses whenever it wishes."
Temu’s "platform can infect Kentuckians’ devices with malware, steal their personal data and send it directly to the Chinese government,” said Coleman in a press release. “At the same time, they’re eroding trust in some of Kentucky’s most iconic brands, which could lead to job losses and hardship."
The complaint, filed in state court, claims privacy and commercial harms as unfair and deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Kentucky Consumer Privacy Act, as well as unjust enrichment.
Temu didn't respond to a request for comment.
In June, Nebraska sued the online marketplace for privacy and consumer protection violations (see 2506120027). Temu was also one of several Chinese companies the Austrian privacy advocacy group Noyb sued in January (see 2501160010).