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Shopping app Temu is “dangerous malware,” spying on your texts, U.S. lawsuit claims
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2024
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Temu—the Chinese shopping app that has rapidly grown so popular in the US that even Amazon is reportedly trying to copy it—is "dangerous malware" that's secretly monetizing a broad swath of unauthorized user data, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.Griffin fears that Temu is capable of accessing virtually all data on a person's phone, exposing both users and non-users to extreme privacy and security risks.
In their report, Grizzly Research alleged that PDD Holdings is a “fraudulent company” and that “Temu is cleverly hidden spyware that poses an urgent security threat to United States national interests.”
Investigators agreed, the lawsuit said, concluding “we strongly suspect that Temu is already, or intends to, illegally sell stolen data from Western country customers to sustain a business model that is otherwise doomed for failure."
Researchers found that Pinduoduo "was programmed to bypass users’ cell phone security in order to monitor activities on other apps, check notifications, read private messages, and change settings," the lawsuit said.
A Temu spokesperson provided a statement to Ars, discrediting Grizzly Research's investigation and confirming that the company was "surprised and disappointed by the Arkansas Attorney General's Office for filing the lawsuit without any independent fact-finding."
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