South Korea’s Personal Data Protection Commission said it has suspended new downloads of the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s mobile app due to data protection concerns.
South Korea’s Personal Data Protection Commission said it has suspended new downloads of the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s mobile app due to data protection concerns.
The restriction went into effect on Saturday and does not affect South Korean users who have already installed the app on their devices. The DeepSeek service also remains available in South Korea via the Internet, ArsTechnica reports.
According to a statement from the South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), DeepSeek officials admitted that the company had «partially neglected» some of its obligations under South Korea’s data protection laws, which are among the strictest in the world in terms of privacy protection.
PIPC’s Director of Investigations, Nam Seok, said DeepSeek «lacked transparency regarding data transfers to third parties and potentially collected excessive personal information.» DeepSeek has reportedly sent a representative to South Korea to address any concerns and bring the app into compliance with the law.
It is unknown how long the app will remain unavailable in South Korea, as PIPC only said that the privacy issues it identified in the app could take a «significant amount of time» to resolve.
Western security sources have also expressed concerns about DeepSeek’s security. Mobile security firm NowSecure reported two weeks ago that the app was sending unencrypted information to servers in China controlled by TikTok owner ByteDance, a week after another security firm discovered an open, online database filled with DeepSeek customers’ chat histories and other sensitive data.
Several countries and government organizations have currently banned or restricted the use of the Chinese artificial intelligence application DeepSeek due to concerns about national security and data privacy.
Australia has banned the use of DeepSeek on all government systems and devices after an assessment found it posed an unacceptable risk to national security.
Italy has blocked access to DeepSeek, removing the app from the Apple and Google stores, due to concerns about the security of user data and possible violation of EU data protection laws.
Taiwan has banned the use of DeepSeek in government agencies due to concerns about the transfer of sensitive data abroad.
In the Netherlands, the government banned civil servants from using DeepSeek, citing risks of espionage and data transfer to the Chinese government.
Various ministries in South Korea have already temporarily blocked access to DeepSeek over data security concerns, and the US Congress has also banned its employees from downloading the Chinese chatbot onto any official phones, computers, and tablets.
