The Patriot Post® · China's Latest Spy App, Temu

It hit the market just two years ago and quickly became one of the fastest-growing websites on the Internet. Indeed, only OpenAI’s ChatGPT has grown faster. Over 100 million Americans have used the site.

So, just who is this new kid on the ‘Net? It’s the Chinese-based e-commerce company Temu. This year, it is targeting $60 billion in sales and is clearly rising as a competitor to Amazon, which also happens to sell plenty of Chinese-made products.

What’s the problem with a little competition? Isn’t that a good thing? After all, competition is the cornerstone of free market capitalism.

Competition with Amazon and other e-commerce sites is not the issue. The more, the better. The problem with Temu is that its real reason for existence is not e-commerce. Like the popular Chinese-owned social media site TikTok, Temu exists to spy on Americans. Consider: China has spent 76% of Temu’s budget on social media and TV commercials in the U.S. as it seeks to grow the company’s reach. Furthermore, in order to expand into the American market, it is estimated that Temu has been losing an average of $30 per order. And like TikTok, the Temu app is not available in China. As noted above, the target is America.

The threat posed by Temu is not only a Chinese-based entity seeking to dominate our nation’s e-commerce market. More insidious is the threat it poses to Americans’ private information. When you download the Temu app onto your smartphone, you have effectively given the company access to everything on your phone. The Temu app is scooping up all your personal data; it’s spying on you.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin recently explained: “Temu is not an online marketplace like Amazon or Walmart. It’s a data theft business that sells goods as a means to an end. So it is common for an online marketplace like Amazon, like Walmart, to collect certain consumer data as part of the normal course of business. I think we all know that that’s not what’s going on here.”

Griffin further noted, “What Temu is doing is selling goods at a rock bottom price, not to make a profit off of those, but as a way to get into your phone, your device, and to collect your data.” He added, “Not just traditional consumer data, but using malware spyware to have complete access to your information. And [taking it] one step further, their code is written in such a way to evade detection.”

In short, Temu exists to steal from Americans as much of their personal information and data as it can get, and without them knowing it. As Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton put it, Temu is “a threat to American producers, investors, online retailers, and every single American’s personal privacy.”

Amazingly, Temu is thus worse than TikTok. It is malware disguised as an e-commerce app, and it’s yet another weapon in China’s expanding cyberwarfare arsenal. Protect your privacy. Don’t download or use Temu. It may offer goods at cheaper prices, but its ultimate cost may be far greater.