The discount shopping site gathers a broad array of data, including personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, and social media profiles, as well as technical data such as operating systems, IP addresses, and GPS locations (if allowed).
Alarmingly, Temu’s data collection doesn’t end there. The app also amasses information from third-party sources, including sellers on its platform, public records, social media, data brokers, credit bureaus, and marketing partners, adding more layers to its data mining activities.
Recently, Temu was accused by the U.S. of potential data risks after its sister site, e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, was suspended by Google for containing malware.
Cybersecurity researchers found it wasn’t just tracking device info and activity – malicious code allowed it to bypass cellphone security settings to spy on other apps, read notifications and messages, and even change settings.
Temu gains full access to all your contacts, calendars, and photo albums, plus all your social media accounts, chats, and texts. In other words, literally everything on your phone.
In other words, YOU are the product.