Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway wants Americans to delete Temu from their phones. Immediately.
The Chinese shopping giant is facing a new lawsuit accusing it of secretly collecting personal information, misleading customers, and potentially putting Americans' private data within reach of the Chinese Communist Party. Missouri investigators say the app can track someone's location within 10 feet, access cameras and microphones, and identify other applications installed on a device.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced the lawsuit Tuesday following a multiyear investigation into the discount retailer and its data collection practices. While Washington spent years issuing warnings, she acted.
"My advice to all Missourians is to delete this app. Temu lied to you, stole your data, packaged it up, and potentially delivered it to the CCP," said General Hanaway. "Our office will continue to crack down on illegal operations that intentionally harm Missouri consumers through deception and unlawful business practices. We will fight to protect Missourians' privacy and to secure restitution for those victimized by Temu."
According to the attorney general's office, investigators discovered software capable of changing its own configuration after installation, allegedly allowing it to avoid detection while continuing to collect personal information. Portions of the code reportedly came from an earlier version of an app removed from Google Play over malware concerns.
That's a considerable amount of alleged surveillance for an application supposedly designed to sell cheap electronics and household goods.
Temu's parent company, PDD Holdings, maintains substantial operations in mainland China. Under Chinese national security laws, companies can be compelled to provide information to government authorities while keeping those requests confidential. Americans using Temu have no idea how exposed their information is.
Giving a Chinese company extensive access to American phones while knowing Beijing's intelligence laws exist seems like an awfully generous arrangement.
During a Wednesday interview, Hanaway questioned whether selling discounted merchandise was even the company's primary objective.
"I think the primary purpose for the site is to get your information. And it's interesting that Google Play won't let you download a version of it that has all these sorts of spy tools in it. They're trying to protect you. However, once it's on your phone, it starts to evolve itself," explained Hanaway.
The allegations don't stop with surveillance.
Missouri investigators also accuse Temu of misleading pricing practices and selling unlicensed merchandise bearing trademarks from the Kansas City Chiefs, Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Blues, and several Missouri businesses. The complaint also describes inadequate age verification and products such as drug paraphernalia and weapons allegedly accessible to children.
There's also the forced labor problem, and it's not a small one. The U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party found that goods arriving from Temu are likely produced using forced labor, with the company making no meaningful effort to verify its supply chain. That means the cheap hoodie or phone case you ordered may have been made by someone with no choice in the matter, quite possibly a Uyghur in Xinjiang. Washington has known about this for years. Temu kept shipping anyway.
Hanaway wants a permanent injunction against the alleged practices, civil penalties, and financial relief for Missouri consumers. She says six other state attorneys general are also suing Temu. This is no longer a Missouri problem. The company had not responded to a request for comment when local reporting was published Wednesday.
For years, Washington has warned Americans about the security risks posed by Chinese technology companies: see TikTok. Now a state attorney general is alleging that one of China's popular shopping platforms may be collecting far more than customers agreed to surrender, and six of her colleagues agree.
Those bargain-basement prices suddenly look a lot less appealing.