South Korea's data protection authority announced on Monday the suspension of new downloads of the Chinese AI app DeepSeek due to non-compliance with personal data protection rules. DeepSeek acknowledged the lapse and committed to meeting the country's privacy law requirements before the app's service is reinstated, according to the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC).
The authority clarified that while new downloads of the app are blocked by the recent measure, DeepSeek's web service remains operational in the country. The Chinese startup, which recently designated legal representatives in South Korea, admitted to overlooking aspects of the local data protection regulations, as stated by the PIPC.
In a similar incident, Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, restricted the use of a chatbot in the country due to privacy policy concerns that were not addressed by the company.
DeepSeek did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment. At a briefing on February 6, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson reassured that the Chinese government upholds data privacy and security lawfully and does not endorse the violation of regulations, emphasizing that Beijing does not condone any illegal data collection or storage practices.