South Korea has formally suspended new downloads of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot DeepSeek in the country until the service makes changes to its mobile apps to comply with data protection regulations.
Downloads have been paused as of Feb. 15, 2025, 6:00 pm local time, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said in a statement. The web service remains accessible.
The agency explained that it commenced its own analysis of DeepSeek right after its launch & that it “identified some shortcomings in communication functions & personal information processing policies with 3rd-party service providers.”
Privacy Laws
DeepSeek is believed to have recently appointed a local representative, per PIPC, with the company also acknowledging it had failed to take into consideration domestic privacy laws when launching the service.
So, downloads of DeepSeek are being paused until the company implements the necessary improvements that bring the service in compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act.
Ensure Compliance
“This temporary suspension of the DeepSeek app restricts new app downloads from the app market, & we ask existing users to use it cautiously, such as not entering personal information in the DeepSeek input window (prompt) until the final results are announced,” the agency noted.
Also, PIPC intends to ensure compliance & improve guidance so as to prevent similar lapses from occurring in the future.
The development comes shortly after S. Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) called out the service for “excessively” collecting personal data & using the information to train its AI systems.
Weaknesses
Recently, DeepSeek’s Android & iOS apps have also been found to contain security weaknesses that allow certain data to be sent to its servers in unencrypted format.
China has previously said it allows internet companies across the world to operate in the country as long as they follow local laws & regulations, & that it would never ask any company or individual to collect or store data in breach of laws.
