South Korean authorities have temporarily restricted the availability of an app from the Chinese AI Lab, DeepSeek, pending an evaluation of how the company manages user data. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) announced that the app would remain inaccessible for download until it aligns with South Korean privacy laws and implements the required modifications.
Existing users in South Korea can continue to use the app and web service, but the data protection authority has strongly advised them to refrain from inputting personal information into DeepSeek until a conclusive decision is made. The PIPC initiated contact with DeepSeek shortly after the service launched in late January to understand their data collection and processing methods. Their assessment identified issues related to the app’s third-party service and privacy policies.
The PIPC confirmed that their investigation revealed that DeepSeek had transferred the data of South Korean users to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. DeepSeek has not yet commented on the situation. The agency noted that DeepSeek has recently appointed a local representative in South Korea and acknowledged lacking familiarity with the country’s privacy regulations at the time of its launch. The company expressed willingness to work closely with Korean authorities as of last Friday.
Earlier this month, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, together with the police and state-run entity Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, temporarily blocked access to the Chinese AI startup on official devices, citing security reasons.
Other countries have also exercised caution with DeepSeek due to its Chinese origin. Australia has banned the use of DeepSeek on government devices over security concerns. Italy’s data protection authority, Garante, has instructed DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country, and Taiwan has prohibited government departments from utilizing DeepSeek AI.
Established by Liang Feng in 2023 in Hangzhou city, DeepSeek launched DeepSeek R1, a free, open-source reasoning AI model that competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
