- Liv McMahon & Tom Singleton & Tom Espiner
- Technology & Business Reporter
Chinese e-tailer Temu has made major changes to its cash gift terms after customers raised concerns.
Participants in the promotion, which went viral on social media, received up to £50 but had to agree to permanently hand over a significant amount of personal data.
Mr Tem previously said these were “standard terms and conditions”.
But it now says those conditions are “too broad” and have been “tweaked.”
The data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, which was investigating concerns about Mr Thame's proposals, said it would “continue to consider the concerns raised”.
The Chinese-owned online marketplace launched in the US in 2022 and in the UK last year.
The company has been described by retail experts as “Amazon on steroids” and is known for selling products at extremely low prices under the slogan “Shop Like a Billionaire.”
What is Temu's campaign?
The company's offer allows new users to sign up others for 24 hours using a shareable link, so each user receives a cash reward of between £40 and £50, paid to their PayPal account or Temu store credit. Can be done.
Existing Temu account holders can also participate, but it appears they will need to reach a higher bar to earn such rewards.
Thousands of users have been seen posting links on social media sites hoping to benefit from this promotion.
But it has also been the subject of memes and posts that scrutinize the rules.
The most scrutinized section states that “except to the extent prohibited by applicable law,” participants may provide the Company with their “photos, names, likenesses, voices, opinions, statements, biographical information, and/or or where you are from. state” for advertising or promotional purposes.
It added that this could be done “in perpetuity” for any media outlet in the world, with no set end date.
One post on X (formerly Twitter), which included a screenshot of the campaign's usage and promotion rules, was viewed more than 2 million times, according to platform metrics.
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Many other X users claimed that this rule would allow Temu to sell their data or create deepfake ads, but these claims were vehemently denied by the retailer. .
The company said it has “tweaked” its terms and conditions “to make it clear that usernames and profile photos will be used for this promotion only for referral functions and winner announcements.”
“The previous terms and conditions were too broad and inadvertently included promotional uses in which Temu was not involved,” it added.
“Customer trust and satisfaction is at the heart of Temu, and we do not and will not sell customer data.”
This is a change in direction compared to the company's previous statements.
Earlier, a Temu spokesperson said giveaways are common in many companies and across a variety of industries, and cited e-commerce rivals as an example of a company running promotions on “nearly identical terms.” He mentioned Shein.
“If these standard terms and conditions for mundane promotional activity are newsworthy, we urge you to be fair and report on usage by other companies, rather than naming Temu,” the spokesperson said. said the person.
sensitive data
Experts also expressed concerns about the conditions for promotion.
“Granting Temu permission to use your 'voice' and 'biographical information' will understandably cause customers concern,” Lisa Webb said. Consumer law expert.
“These offers are spreading rapidly on social media, including among young people, but consumers should always consider whether they are comfortable giving up this sensitive data in exchange for cash.”
She added: “Temu is not the first platform to over-police data, but there are clear question marks as to whether asking for permission to use personal data 'worldwide' is appropriate in any circumstances.” It is attached,” he added.
Jonathan Carsop, data protection partner at law firm Pinsent Mason, told BBC News that this was not a word he had seen commonly used before and that the activity implied was “problematic”. He said it was possible.
The previous terms could have breached UK data protection regulations. UK data protection regulations require that user consent is freely given, specific, and revocable in order to be relied upon as a reason for data processing.
“Although not always prohibited, making the provision of services conditional on consent to the use of personal data, especially where that data is sensitive data such as biometric data,” he said.
He added that the use of voice data, which is considered biometric data under the UK's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), carries greater risks, so the UK has higher standards for lawful use and consent.
“Clear and transparent”
The data regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office, previously said it was “aware of the reports about Tem” and was “taking account of the concerns raised”.
In new comments made after Temu changed its terms of service, the data watchdog said: “Organizations should be aware of how and why they collect and use people's personal information. Handing over data must be clear and transparent, and must enable people to make informed decisions about whether their personal information is collected and used. ”
“We are aware of the press coverage regarding Temu and the subsequent update to our terms of service and will continue to review the concerns raised.”
Awais Rashid, a cybersecurity professor at the University of Bristol, told BBC News that it was becoming common for apps to collect more data from users than they actually needed.
He added that cash incentives and long and sometimes “unreadable” privacy policies and terms make it more difficult for us as individuals to decide whether to give up our data to use a service. He said this could make things difficult and lead to imbalances.
“Whenever such a deal is proposed, we always have to consider: what are the consequences of this, how much data will be collected and how will it be used, and how will it be used? You have to think about whether you are satisfied with it,” he said.
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