Lawmakers raise new alarm about Americans’ data risk on Temu

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Americans’ data on the retailer Temu appears vulnerable to the Chinese Communist Party, according to House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence lawmakers who want federal investigators to take a closer look.

The committee’s Republicans wrote to the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday with concerns about the protection of Americans’ sensitive information.

“Analogous to Congress’ action on TikTok, the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese national security laws, and Americans’ data must be understood,” the lawmakers wrote. “We have concerns that the CCP has undertaken yet another attempt to exploit the democracy, free market principles, and the personal and economic data of the United States.”

The lawmakers said their worries about Temu and its China-based parent company Pinduoduo have grown since a report saying the two companies’ senior executives were connected to the CCP. The lawmakers said a Pinduoduo app was suspended by Google in 2023 because it allowed for data theft and control of millions of users’ devices.

As a result, the lawmakers are asking the FBI and SEC for a briefing on what the agencies know about Temu, whether any intelligence agencies have provided info to the SEC on Temu, and what laws or policies prevent greater info sharing between the intelligence agencies and the SEC.

The SEC told The Washington Times that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler would respond to lawmakers directly.

Temu and Pinduoduo didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Data security concerns are far from the only issues dogging Temu. Last year, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party published a report examining the retailer’s lack of a compliance structure to adhere to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

Former Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, then chairman of the committee, said the government needed to take a hard look at Temu.

“These results are shocking: Temu is doing next to nothing to keep its supply chains free from slave labor,” Mr. Gallagher said in a statement last year.

House Intelligence Committee Republicans said Wednesday that their concerns about Temu extend beyond data security, to include problems involving slave labor, trade violations and national security.

The FBI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.