AdTech Company Seeks Dismissal of Case Claiming It Sent Data to China's Temu
An advertising technology company asked a court to dismiss a class action against it that claimed the firm intercepted and then transmitted users’ online communications and sensitive data to Chinese-owned e-commerce platform Temu.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Privacy Daily provides accurate coverage of newsworthy developments in data protection legislation, regulation, litigation, and enforcement for privacy professionals responsible for ensuring effective organizational data privacy compliance.
In a federal court document Monday, Index Exchange told the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that the plaintiffs lack jurisdiction and fail to state a claim that could be granted relief.
Since “Index Exchange is not incorporated in, nor does it have its principal place of business in, Illinois,” the suit fails, as it was brought in the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois, the company said. Index Exchange is incorporated in Ontario and headquartered in Toronto.
Further, the complaint "merely speculates” Temu is “associated with a country of concern,” and doesn't offer "facts" proving this, Index Exchange said. As such, the plaintiff “fails to plausibly allege” the Bulk Sensitive Data (BSD) Rule has been violated.
DOJ established the BSD Rule in April to prohibit sharing Americans' sensitive personal data with "countries of concern" (see 2503100057).
The first amended complaint in case 1:25-cv-10517 was filed in November, accusing Index Exchange of observing and tracking plaintiff John Baker's communications on BibleGateway.com, and then sharing that data with third-party advertisers, including Temu (see 2511240043).