James Uthmeier files subpoena against Wi-Fi router tech firm, alleges links to China

Attorney General James Uthmeier is subpoenaing a global technology network and smartphone provider for what he says is an investigation into possible connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

Uthmeier said in a news release that he has issued an investigative subpoena to TP-Link Systems Inc. looking into the business’s cybersecurity practices, handling of U.S. consumer data and supply-chain infrastructure. The California-based company sells Wi-Fi routers for home and business networks, among other tech products.

Uthmeier’s subpoena demands that TP-Link Systems officials turn over extensive documents regarding the corporate structure of the company, along with software development, manufacturing practices, data handling and evidence that backs up the company’s claims about security for its products.

“Floridians deserve to know the truth about the security of the products they bring into their homes,” Uthmeier said. “If a company is going to make claims about their cybersecurity or foreign relationship practices, then they had better be accurate. We will not allow Floridians to be misled into handing their personal data to the Chinese Communist Party.”

Several U.S. government agencies have supported banning future sales of the home routers produced by the company due to its ties to China. Several of those agencies have claimed the company poses a national security risk, according to a report in The Washington Post. U.S. Department of Commerce officials have been among the most vocal.

But TP-Link has defended its practices.

“TP-Link vigorously disputes any allegation that its products present national security risks to the United States,” Ricca Silverio, a spokeswoman for TP-Link Systems, said in a statement published in the Washington Post report. “TP-Link is a U.S. company committed to supplying high-quality and secure products to the U.S. market and beyond.”

Uthmeier said the company poses a risk because it “handles sensitive American data and because officials believe it remains subject to the jurisdiction or influence by the Chinese Government.”

Uthmeier went on to say that if the company exposes Floridians to cybersecurity threats or misleads any customers in the Sunshine State about access to networks by foreign governments, TP-Link could possibly be in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

It’s a similar approach that Uthmeier took earlier this year when he initiated legal action against Contec, a Chinese manufacturer of medical devices, such as patient monitors, that raised cybersecurity questions.