Temu accused of data risks amid TikTok, Pinduoduo fears
- The U.S. has accused Temu of potential data risks after Google suspended its Chinese sister app, but analysts are not too worried.
- “Temu is not as aggressive as Pinduoduo that is requesting all kinds of privileges,” said Kevin Reed, chief information security officer at cybersecurity firm Acronis.
- Temu is taking the U.S. market by storm with discount items from fashion to pet supplies to home goods.
- “I am less worried about the shopping apps than social media platforms like TikTok and Lemon8,” said Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging tech, German Marshall Fund.
In just 17 days after launch, Temu surpassed Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Shein on the Apple App Store in the U.S., according to Apptopia data shared with CNBC.
Stefani Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images
The U.S. has accused discount shopping site Temu of possible data risks after its Chinese sister app was pulled from Google’s app store over “malware” — but analysts say they’re not that worried.
Compared to Pinduoduo, which was suspended by Google in March after versions offered outside Google’s Play store were found to contain malware, Temu is “not as aggressive,” one analyst said.
The malware in Pinduoduo was found to leverage specific vulnerabilities for Android phones, allowing the app to bypass user security permissions, access private messages, modify settings, view data from other apps and prevent uninstallation.
Google called it an “identified malicious app” and urged users to uninstall the Pinduoduo app, but the Chinese online retailer denied those claims.
According to analysis by Kevin Reed, chief information security officer at cybersecurity firm Acronis, Pinduoduo requests for as many as 83 permissions — including access to biometrics, Bluetooth and information about Wi-Fi networks.
“Some of these permissions Pinduoduo is asking seems to be unexpected for an e-commerce app,” said Reed, who shared his analysis of both apps with CNBC.
“But Temu is not as aggressive as Pinduoduo that is requesting all kinds of privileges,” said Reed.
Pinduoduo is a China-based e-commerce app that sells everything from groceries to clothing. It is the flagship product of Nasdaq-listed Chinese company PDD Holdings which also owns…
