The US senator for Arkansas wrote a letter to President Biden on 10 July that states: "Your administration must ensure that data from US companies is not harvested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through the purchase of Shein software and technology."
He claims that as a large fashion retailer, Shein has a vast array of customer and supply chain data.
He also alleges that the so-called Chinese company "is subject to national security laws" that require compliance with any request from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to access that data and suggests allowing "Shein to promulgate its technology within the US will increase the risk that the CCP will gather data from US businesses and use it for nefarious purposes."
He continues: "Shein moved its headquarters to Singapore and claims to store US data in the US, it is still owned by the Chinese. As we’ve seen with companies such as LOGINK in US ports and TikTok, any amount of CCP access to US data poses a national security risk."
He tells President Biden the spread of Shein’s supply-chain technology could provide the CCP with a vast trove of data about global and US supply chains, as well as with details about US citizens and adds: "The CCP would almost certainly use that data to subvert US interests. This is unacceptable."
Cotton outlines a series of questions to President Biden with a request for a response by 1 August ranging from is the US administration tracking the possible sale of Shein supply chain software to US companies and has the administration evaluated the possible national security risk allegedly posed by Shein's supply chain technology.
A Shein spokesperson told Just Style exclusively it is not selling its software to third parties but is using its expertise to increase efficiency and limit waste for other businesses making and selling clothes.
The spokesperson explained: "In response to what we are aiming to do with our support for designers and partners, we're proud of our on-demand business model, which matches demand with supply while dramatically reducing inventory waste, allowing us to produce the merchandise customers want when they want it."
Shein believes that expanding this offering to more artists, designers, and brands through the company's ecosystem of supplier partners is "an exciting opportunity to scale an existing and proven capability that has operated successfully and safely for years"
The spokesperson highlighted: "Just as we have done with our Shein X Designer Incubator Program, where we have empowered thousands of independent designers and artists to leverage our supply chain, more established artists, designers, and brands can use our offerings to focus on what they do best."
Shein was also keen to point out that it has robust data security policies and practices in line with industry standards and limits data collection to technical information regarding design and manufacturing, as well as information needed to fulfill customer orders.
"Shein stores US customer data within Microsoft’s US-based Azure cloud-based solution and within AWS’s US-based cloud-based solution," added the spokesperson.
