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The South Korean government has suspended new downloads of the trending Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek. The suspension is due to the ongoing noncompliance of the new venture with the country’s data protection regulations.
The agency that announced the ban is The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC). The suspension happened on February 15, citing issues with the app’s communication features and data processing methods.
The app quickly gained traction in South Korea after receiving at least 1 million weekly users. Still, it remains available to existing users through its web version. However, the PIPC advised caution, asking users not to provide personal details to the app until further notice.
DeepSeek AI allegedly violates data privacy regulations.
According to reports, the DeepSeek AI’s arrival in South Korea has not met the country’s domestic privacy regulations. The software is suspected of harvesting data through unprotected networks and sharing user information with third-party service providers without sufficient safeguards.
On the other hand, DeepSeek faces a lengthy suspension until it overcomes these concerns and meets the Personal Information Protection Act criteria despite designating a local representation and promising to assist.
As of now, the chatbot’s ban in South Korea was based on findings such as communication and data processing policies failing to meet legal norms, third-party data management creating privacy issues, and unencrypted data transmission found in mobile apps.
South Korea is not the only country that has expressed its concern about AI. Currently, the chatbot is banned from government devices in Australia, Taiwan, and Italy. US lawmakers are likewise attempting to limit DeepSeek due to surveillance concerns, with states like Texas, Virginia, and New York enacting similar legislation.
DeepSeek’s large language model (LLM) has gained recognition for its efficiency, which rivals top US models while costing a fraction of the price. However, this capacity has raised concerns about data misuse, mainly as the software may store sensitive user information on Chinese servers.
The government agency that banned the AI informed South Koreans that it would adequately investigate DeepSeek’s operations during the suspension. Lastly, the agency also intends to create more evident standards to avoid future AI technology privacy violations.
