The TP-Link stand at the IFA 2020 Special Edition consumer electronics and appliances trade fair on the fair’s opening day in Berlin on Sept. 3, 2020.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Four states are suing TP-Link Systems, alleging the router maker concealed ongoing ties to China and misled consumers about the security of its products.
The attorneys general of Florida, Iowa, Montana, and Nebraska filed separate lawsuits on Tuesday accusing TP-Link Systems of engaging in deceptive and unfair business practices.
According to the complaints, the company misled consumers by omitting material facts about its “ongoing reliance on Chinese manufacturing, research and development, subsidies, suppliers, and affiliates.”
TP-Link Systems, based in California, is a spin off from China-based TP-Link Technologies, following a restructuring in 2024. The complaint argues that TP-Link Systems failed to adequately disclose its association with the Chinese firm, which the Pentagon designated as a “Chinese military company” in June 2026.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers told The Epoch Times that the lawsuit aims to “protect Nebraskans’ privacy, security, and pocketbooks from deceit by the largest internet router company in the nation.”
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“In truth, its supply chain continues to be intertwined with China’s state-sponsored technology ecosystem,” he said.
The complaints cite reports that representatives from the two companies “attended a Chinese Communist Party event together in China” after the spinoff.
TP-Link Systems’ corporate affairs officer Steve Kovsky said in an Oct. 6 statement that the four lawsuits “are built on false premises.”
“TP-Link Systems is a U.S. company that complies with U.S. privacy and data protection laws. We meet or exceed all industry best practices for monitoring and preventing vulnerabilities and … do not share customer network data with foreign governments or unauthorized third parties.”
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said she doesn’t believe the company’s assertions. “TP-Link tells Iowans its routers are safe,” she said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “They are not telling the truth.”
She said a router is a “digital front door to a Florida family’s home,” with research and manufacturing rooted in China.
Citing congressional testimony, the attorneys general alleged that TP-Link routers contained critical vulnerabilities that Chinese state hackers exploited in the Volt Typhoon and Flax Typhoon cyberattacks.
The attorneys general also disputed TP-Link Systems’ claim that its Vietnamese manufacturing plant provides enhanced supply chain security for U.S.-bound products. The complaints allege that only 0.5 percent of the components used in products made there are sourced from Vietnam, while the remainder come from or through China.
“We will not allow families to be misled into handing their personal data to the Chinese Communist Party,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement.
The four states are seeking financial penalties and other remedies.
