Seemingly overnight, everyone seems to be talking about Temu, an internet shopping app filled with deals that appear too good to be true. You’ll find wireless earbuds for $17, “gold” necklaces for $1, and wedding dresses for $23.
No wonder Temu is the most well-liked shopping app within the US, behind Amazon. But most of us know little in regards to the origin of the app. I like these appsis related to China.
I did some research to see if it’s secure to make use of. Here’s what I discovered.
Where did Temu come from?
This application isn’t a fly-by-night operation. Temu (pronounced “tee-moo”) is predicated in Boston, Massachusetts PDD Holdings Inc. PDD is headquartered in Shanghai, China. PDD also owns the Pinduoduo e-commerce platform based in — you guessed it — China. (More on Pinduoduo and its shady app below).
More than 50 million Americans have downloaded Temu since its launch in September 2022. You may remember the expensive Super Bowl ads that promise to “shop like a billionaire.”
Searches for terms like “Is Temu legal” surged as Americans saw how low the costs were. No wonder you get what you pay for.
What it’s worthwhile to know before using Temu
First, you purchase goods directly from manufacturers in China and other parts of the world. Therefore, shipping times are sometimes for much longer than on sites like Amazon. You can get your stuff in every week, but it could actually be greater than 12 days.
For essentially the most part, the costs are low because the products are low cost. The photos of what you see within the ad might not be what you truly get.
Online reviewers appear to agree: low cost is nice, but not when the standard is simply too shoddy to make use of. BBB Ago the rating is 2.21/5. Reviews on TrustPilot are interesting, with 38% 5-star reviews and 41% 1-star reviews.
But that is not the worst thing. When you shop, Temu collects a number of information.
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It’s getting worse
Of course, Temu isn’t unique in all the knowledge it desires to capture out of your phone. Most of the available apps want as much as you wish. But given his ties to Communist China, the permits seem much more terrifying to me.
This collects, amongst other things:
- Information you provide, reminiscent of your name, address and telephone number.
- Information you enter, reminiscent of your birthday, photo and social media profiles.
- Operating system and version of your phone or computer, your IP address, GPS location (if you might have allowed it) and browsing data.
They also collect more details about you from third party sources including Temu vendors, public records, social media, data brokers, credit bureaus and marketing partners.
Americans using Temu are selling the country for deals that basically aren’t price it. I say remove it. Here’s how:
On iPhone, press and hold the app, then tap Delete App > Delete App. get Delete confirm.
On Android, touch and hold an app, then tap Delete app > Delete app > Delete.
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In bad company
While Temu collects lots, it’s nothing in comparison with Pinduoduo. Remember that they belong to the identical company.
Cybersecurity researchers discovered that it wasn’t nearly tracking device information and activity – malicious code allowed them to bypass cell phone security settings to spy on other apps, read notifications and messages, and even change settings.
Tomu gets full access to all of your contacts, calendars and photo albums, in addition to all of your social media accounts, chats and text messages. In other words, literally all the pieces in your phone.
Why? Insiders in the corporate said CNN that it’s a option to spy on users and competitors to extend sales.
No shopping app requires a lot control, especially one related to communist China. If you utilize Pinduoduo, remove the app out of your phone as soon as possible. It is claimed that it’s difficult to remove all the pieces, even after deletion.
Professional advice: If you might have downloaded Pinduoduo, you really want to do that full factory reset in your smartphone to clear any remaining code or tracking.
