Temu

Is Temu safe to use?

For a careful shopper buying cheap household items, Temu works and most orders arrive. As an app, though, it is among the lowest-scoring on our list, alongside TikTok and Instagram. The European Commission fined it €200 million in May 2026 because EU shoppers were "very likely to encounter illegal items" there, the US Justice Department settled with it for $2 million in 2025, and at least six US states have sued over its handling of data. We score it 42/100.

The two risks are different. One is what the app does with your data. The other is what turns up in the box.

The data question

Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, which also runs China's Pinduoduo. In the US the app is published by Whaleco Inc.

Apple's privacy label lists a lot of data linked to your identity: precise and coarse location, name, address, email, phone number, purchase history, financial info, photos and videos, search history and identifiers. Some is used for Temu's own advertising and marketing. Much of it is what any shopping app needs to deliver a parcel.

The US state lawsuits go much further. Arkansas sued first, in June 2024, alleging the app was designed to get unrestricted access to phones, including camera, location and contacts. Nebraska and Kentucky followed in 2025, Texas in February 2026 and Oklahoma on 11 May 2026, alleging data harvesting, deceptive reward schemes and misuse of sports team trademarks. Arizona has also sued. These are allegations, not findings. Temu denies them and says it collects data only to run its service.

The background to the suspicion is real. In March 2023, Google suspended Pinduoduo from its Play Store after security researchers found malicious code in versions distributed elsewhere. Temu is a separate app and no regulator has found the same in it.

What ends up in the box

This is where regulators have actually ruled. The European Commission's decision of 28 May 2026 found Temu had not properly assessed the risks of illegal products on its marketplace, relying on generic sector information instead of its own evidence. Investigators found toys with hazardous chemical content and chargers that failed safety tests. It also criticised Temu for not assessing how its recommendations and influencer promotions spread those products.

In the US, the Justice Department, acting for the FTC, settled with Temu in September 2025 for a $2 million civil penalty. It was the first case under the INFORM Consumers Act, which requires marketplaces to tell shoppers who sellers are and give them a way to report suspicious products. Temu agreed to change its practices.

Scams around Temu

Temu's referral games and "free gift" offers are aggressive marketing rather than fraud, though Oklahoma's lawsuit calls some of the reward promises deceptive. The bigger scam risk comes from outside the app: texts and emails pretending to be Temu, offering prizes or warning of a delivery problem, with links to fake login or payment pages. Temu will not text you a prize link.

If an order never arrives or is not what was described, use Temu's own refund process first and keep screenshots of the listing. If that fails, a chargeback through your card issuer or a claim under PayPal's buyer protection is the backstop. That is another reason not to pay by bank transfer or with a debit card that has weaker protection in some countries.

How to shop on Temu more safely

1. Use the website in a browser rather than the app if you only buy occasionally. It gets fewer device permissions.
2. If you use the app, deny location, contacts, camera and microphone in your phone's settings for Temu unless you need them for a specific task.
3. Pay with PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay so your card number is not stored.
4. Avoid children's toys, chargers, cosmetics, jewellery for children and food-contact items unless they carry a recognised safety mark and the seller is identifiable.
5. Turn off marketing notifications and ignore spin-to-win offers that require inviting contacts.

How we scored it

Privacy (32) reflects broad data collection and the unresolved state allegations. Scams and harmful content (38) and regulatory record (35) are driven by the EU's €200 million finding on illegal products. Security (50) is middling because no breach has been confirmed. Compare TikTok, whose data issues regulators have ruled on, and ChatGPT, another app many people use without reading the terms.