DeepSeek Downloads Paused in South Korea
DeepSeek, the massively popular Chinese AI assistant, has been temporarily unavailable for download from app stores in South Korea since February 15th. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), South Korea’s data protection authority, announced that downloads will resume once the Chinese AI company complies with local data protection laws. However, those who have already installed the app can continue using it. Additionally, DeepSeek is blocked on South Korean government and military devices due to security concerns.
DeepSeek’s Lack of Compliance with Data Protection Laws
DeepSeek only established a local presence in South Korea on February 10th, and the company acknowledged that it did not fully consider South Korea’s data protection laws when launching the service globally. However, the new AI powerhouse intends to cooperate with the PIPC to address these concerns.
The PIPC revealed in a statement to TechCrunch that it discovered DeepSeek was transferring Korean users’ data to ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. Local users were warned against entering personal information into the app.
Global Scrutiny of DeepSeek’s Data Practices
Last month, the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) sent DeepSeek an information request asking about the type of data the models were trained on and several other questions. Countries like Australia and Taiwan have also banned the app on government devices due to security concerns.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded to South Korea’s DeepSeek ban, claiming Beijing would never ask any company or individual to store or collect data illicitly.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/south-korea-pauses-downloads-of-deepseek-ai-over-privacy-concerns-163302959.html?src=rss
