Seemingly overnight, everyone seems to be talking about Temu, a web based shopping app filled with deals that appear too good to be true. You will find wireless earbuds for $17, “gold” necklaces for $1, and wedding dresses for $23.
No wonder Temu is the most popular shopping app in the US, behind Amazon. But most of us know little about 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.
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Where did Temu come from?
This application is just not a fly-by-night operation. Temu (pronounced “tee-moo”) relies 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).
Greater than 50 million Americans have downloaded Temu since its launch in September 2022. You could 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 prices were. No wonder you get what you pay for.
What it’s essential know before using Temu
First, you purchase goods directly from manufacturers in China and other parts of the world. Due to this fact, shipping times are sometimes for much longer than on sites like Amazon. You’ll be able to get your stuff in per week, but it may well be greater than 12 days.
For the most part, the prices are low because the goods are low-cost. The photos of what you see in the ad will not be what you really get.
Online reviewers appear to agree: low-cost is sweet, but not when the quality is just 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. Whenever you shop, Temu collects lots of information.
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It’s getting worse
After all, Temu is just not unique in all the information it desires to capture from 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, equivalent to your name, address and telephone number.
- Information you enter, equivalent to your birthday, photo and social media profiles.
- Operating system and version of your phone or computer, your IP address, GPS location (if you have got allowed it) and browsing data.
Additionally they 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 actually aren’t value 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 quite a bit, it’s nothing in comparison with Pinduoduo. Keep in mind that they belong to the same company.
Cybersecurity researchers discovered that it wasn’t nearly tracking device information and activity – malicious code allowed them to bypass mobile phone security settings to spy on other apps, read notifications and messages, and even change settings.
Tomu gets full access to all your contacts, calendars and photo albums, in addition to all your social media accounts, chats and text messages. In other words, literally every part on your phone.
Why? Insiders in the company 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. Should you use Pinduoduo, remove the app from your phone as soon as possible. It is usually reportedly difficult to remove every part, even after deletion.
Skilled advice: If you have got downloaded Pinduoduo, you actually need to do that full factory reset on your smartphone to clear any remaining code or tracking.