Nebraska's Attorney General takes China’s Temu to court, alleging it steals Americans' data

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese-owned online marketplace Temu for allegedly stealing Americans' data.

"Temu is sort of like a cheap Amazon with cheap goods," Hilgers said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "And as we know, cheap things do oftentimes come with a price." 

Hilgers explained that Temu is set up in a way that can gain access to a user's smartphone without having to go through the terms of agreements process by getting around Apple's App Store requirements. 

No permission asked for access

"They do it without even having the kind of boilerplate agreements that we might generally expect, like, 'Hey, we're going to read your text messages. Is that okay?'" he said. "They could access your text messages, your microphone, your app, all your other apps, all the sensitive data that's on your particular store on your phone."

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month, and you can read it here:

"Temu’s platform fuels a whole host of other harms," the lawsuit reads. "The examples are legion: the platform is awash in products infringing copyrights and other intellectual property, Temu engages in “greenwashing,” and it has platformed sellers who use forced labor for the production of goods."

Hilgers said that Temu isn't just taking American users' data, but also their intellectual property. 

"They're enticing Americans to use their software, which, by the way, when you're shopping on their store site, a lot of times, they are ripping off intellectual property from Americans all over the country," he said. 

Hilgers also said that when using other platforms, they are legally required to inform the users about the use of personal data of the users.

The case is only the latest in a series of lawsuits against Temu, dating as far back as at least 2023, according to trade journal fashiondive.com. Although Just the News was unable to reach Temu for comment, a spokesperson for the company told the outlet in a similar claim that “We strongly oppose the allegations contained within it."

The CCP linked to private data breach

"Those other companies have to tell you that they're doing it," Hilgers said. "They have to follow the rules of the road when it comes to the App Store, but those companies also aren't legally required to send all of that data to the Chinese Communist Party, which is what happened with a company like Temu."

"All this information allows China to gain a national security edge by being able to profile millions of Americans, and that's why we had to pull the fire alarm and file the lawsuit that we did," Hilgers continued.

Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, based in China. Because Temu is a China-based company, the government of China can demand data possessed by, controlled by, or accessible to entities in the country at any time under the country’s law. 

The U.S. and China have had a complicated relationship over the past few years, regarding trade, technology and national security.

Just the News reported earlier this month that Chinese scientists were indicted for smuggling a potentially dangerous fungus into the U.S., admitting that on one occasion they succeeded by hiding contraband in a pair of boots. Other lawmakers have been taking action against China over concerns about security and technology. 

West Virginia GOP Gov. Patrick Morrisey recently pressed his state's investment management board to decouple from China, delivering a blow to Beijing as Washington struggles to address Chinese aggression.

Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., a member of the House Select Committee on China and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, introduced bipartisan legislation to stop the smuggling of American-made chips into China.

The legislation, titled the Chip Security Act, was drafted in response to evidence that U.S. chips were potentially funneled into China through shell companies to support the development of CCP AI software.