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A Chinese-owned e-commerce app is booming across the West but its privacy and cybersecurity policies have experts concerned.
Temu is a Western offshoot of one of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo, selling heavily discounted products like sneakers, kids’ toys and surveillance cameras, most often shipped from China to Western markets.
It expanded its operations to Western countries in the last year, starting with the United States in the fall of 2022 and then over a dozen EU countries including Belgium, France and Germany in April 2023. Temu’s parent company, PDD Holdings, also moved its office for international operations from Shanghai to Dublin in May.
To security officials concerned about Chinese technology’s role in the West, the rapid rise of Temu has alarm bells going off. The app’s shadowy privacy and cybersecurity practices, the suspension of its Chinese sister app over malware, and Beijing’s potential access to Temu’s data sparked unease with cybersecurity and privacy experts.
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“Apps collect reams and reams of data on all of us, and what happens when that data falls into the hands of an authoritarian government whose national security and economic interests often conflict with those of the West?” said Lindsay Gorman, head of the technology and geopolitics team at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) think tank.
Countries are reviewing their reliance on Chinese tech. Governments in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, across Europe and in other countries moved to ban the use of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on government officials’ phones earlier this year. Many of the same countries also rolled out restrictions on the use of 5G telecoms equipment from Chinese tech giant Huawei in past years.
“There's a similar recognition in the United States and in the European Union that technology is now part of how states exert influence along with other dimensions such as economic, security, military dimensions, foreign policy and diplomacy, and the promotion of soft power,” said Gorman, who also served as a senior policy advisor on technology strategy to the U.S. White House in 2021-2022.
Downloads vs. trust
Owned by Shanghai-based company PDD Holdings, Temu is the U.S.-based version of Pinduoduo. Company earnings filed in 2023 also showed the company recently moved its international headquarters to Dublin.
The app is part of a wave of “fast fashion” applications that also includes Chinese app Shein and U.S. app Wish. It is challenging Amazon, AliExpress and others — with reported success.
Starting in the U.S. in September 2022, the app recently expanded to nine EU countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, and the U.K. in April. It is now also present in Austria, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg and Slovakia, according to its website.
Temu has been downloaded globally over 50 million times on Google. It also ranked as the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and Portugal as of July 8, according to tracking website SimilarWeb, and was the second most downloaded app on the Apple app store in the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
It was also the most downloaded app on the Google Play Store in Belgium, Portugal, Ireland and Sweden, according to SimilarWeb.
But Temu’s rise has also raised questions. Its seemingly hemorrhaging business model has analysts questioning its business practices. Its data security policies also triggered interventions by the world’s biggest app stores.
Google in March suspended Temu’s Chinese sister platform Pinduoduo from its app store after it found malicious software in versions of the Chinese app.
Temu is a Western offshoot of one of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo, selling heavily discounted products like sneakers, kids’ toys and surveillance cameras, most often shipped from China to Western markets.
It expanded its operations to Western countries in the last year, starting with the United States in the fall of 2022 and then over a dozen EU countries including Belgium, France and Germany in April 2023. Temu’s parent company, PDD Holdings, also moved its office for international operations from Shanghai to Dublin in May.
To security officials concerned about Chinese technology’s role in the West, the rapid rise of Temu has alarm bells going off. The app’s shadowy privacy and cybersecurity practices, the suspension of its Chinese sister app over malware, and Beijing’s potential access to Temu’s data sparked unease with cybersecurity and privacy experts.
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By Veronika Melkozerova
Top human rights prize targeted by Qatargate corruption suspects
By Eddy Wax, Gian Volpicelli and Elisa Braun
Zelenskyy in Lilliput: Someone shrunk Ukraine’s war coalition
By Matthew Kaminski
“Apps collect reams and reams of data on all of us, and what happens when that data falls into the hands of an authoritarian government whose national security and economic interests often conflict with those of the West?” said Lindsay Gorman, head of the technology and geopolitics team at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) think tank.
Countries are reviewing their reliance on Chinese tech. Governments in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, across Europe and in other countries moved to ban the use of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on government officials’ phones earlier this year. Many of the same countries also rolled out restrictions on the use of 5G telecoms equipment from Chinese tech giant Huawei in past years.
“There's a similar recognition in the United States and in the European Union that technology is now part of how states exert influence along with other dimensions such as economic, security, military dimensions, foreign policy and diplomacy, and the promotion of soft power,” said Gorman, who also served as a senior policy advisor on technology strategy to the U.S. White House in 2021-2022.
Downloads vs. trust
Owned by Shanghai-based company PDD Holdings, Temu is the U.S.-based version of Pinduoduo. Company earnings filed in 2023 also showed the company recently moved its international headquarters to Dublin.
The app is part of a wave of “fast fashion” applications that also includes Chinese app Shein and U.S. app Wish. It is challenging Amazon, AliExpress and others — with reported success.
Starting in the U.S. in September 2022, the app recently expanded to nine EU countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, and the U.K. in April. It is now also present in Austria, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg and Slovakia, according to its website.
Temu has been downloaded globally over 50 million times on Google. It also ranked as the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and Portugal as of July 8, according to tracking website SimilarWeb, and was the second most downloaded app on the Apple app store in the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
It was also the most downloaded app on the Google Play Store in Belgium, Portugal, Ireland and Sweden, according to SimilarWeb.
But Temu’s rise has also raised questions. Its seemingly hemorrhaging business model has analysts questioning its business practices. Its data security policies also triggered interventions by the world’s biggest app stores.
Google in March suspended Temu’s Chinese sister platform Pinduoduo from its app store after it found malicious software in versions of the Chinese app.
