South Korean regulators have temporarily restricted downloads of the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from local app stores due to concerns over user data privacy. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) stated that the app would remain unavailable until DeepSeek complies with Korean privacy laws and updates its data policies.
Existing users can still access the app and web service, but officials strongly advise against entering personal information until the final assessment is completed. The PIPC’s investigation found that DeepSeek had transferred South Korean user data to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, raising further security concerns.
DeepSeek, which launched in South Korea in late January, has since appointed a local representative and pledged to cooperate with authorities. The company admitted that it was unfamiliar with South Korea’s privacy regulations at the time of launch and has promised to make necessary changes.
South Korea isn’t the only country scrutinizing DeepSeek due to its Chinese origins. Australia has banned its use on government devices, Italy’s data authority has ordered the chatbot to be blocked, and Taiwan has prohibited its use in government departments.
Founded in 2023 by Liang Feng, DeepSeek aims to compete with AI giants like OpenAI with its free, open-source reasoning AI model, DeepSeek R1. However, growing global scrutiny over its data handling practices may impact its expansion efforts.
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