South Korea has officially halted downloads of the Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot DeepSeek, effective February 15, 2025, due to privacy violations. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) disclosed that users can still access the web service, but the agency identified shortcomings in how DeepSeek manages communication functions and personal information processing with third-party service providers.
The situation arose after PIPC commenced an analysis of DeepSeek following its launch, leading to concerns over compliance with local privacy laws. DeepSeek has since appointed a local representative and acknowledged that it did not adequately account for South Korea’s data protection regulations before launching.
As a result of the findings, the PIPC has imposed a temporary ban on new downloads until DeepSeek implements the required improvements to align with the Personal Information Protection Act. Existing users have been cautioned to avoid entering personal information into the app’s input prompts until the situation is resolved.
This decision comes on the heels of a critical report from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service that accused DeepSeek of collecting excessive personal data to train its AI systems. Further compounding the issue, the app’s Android and iOS versions revealed security vulnerabilities that allowed data to be transmitted to servers without encryption.
The Chinese government has stated its intention to allow foreign internet companies to operate domestically as long as they adhere to local laws, asserting that it would not require organizations to gather data in violation of these laws.
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