Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against Temu

Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today the filing of a lawsuit against Temu.

The Chinese online shopping platform is accused of unlawful data collection, violating customers’ privacy, and counterfeiting some of Kentucky’s most iconic brands.

Temu has risen in popularity to become the most-downloaded mobile app in the U.S. in 2023. According to the lawsuit, those behind the app have allegedly used the popularity to collect massive quantities of information about customers, without their knowledge or consent.

According to the release, Temu is owned by a multibillion-dollar Chinese holding company, PDD Holdings, whose first retail app, Pinduoduo, was eventually banned from U.S. app stores for being malware. The Temu app shares a significant amount of its code with the original Pinduoduo app and has a documented relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in Woodford County Circuit Court, alleging that the Temu app is about much more than offering cheap goods at bargain-basement prices.

The complaint alleges that Temu:

Illegally collects users’ data without their knowledge and consent;
Allows unfettered access to that data to the Chinese Communist government;
Steals the intellectual property of U.S.-owned companies, including some of Kentucky’s most iconic brands, including the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Buffalo Trace Distillery, and Churchill Downs;
Uses forced labor from Chinese ethnic minorities in clear violation of U.S. trade policies.

In addition to the misuse of Kentuckians’ personal information, the lawsuit alleges that Temu is notorious for other forms of consumer fraud, such as advertising items that look nothing like the items that eventually arrive and faking customer reviews.
Source: WBKO