Regulators across the world are increasingly taking action against DeepSeek AI, the controversial Chinese startup behind two open-source models that have shaken up the industry.
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On Tuesday, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PICP) announced it was removing DeepSeek’s chatbot app from Google Play and the App Store, due to the company’s failure to comply with South Korean data protection requirements. PICP asked DeepSeek to suspend its availability on the two app platforms, which the company agreed to.
This move prevents new downloads of the app, but does not remove the app from devices it’s already been downloaded to. People in South Korea can also still access the chatbot via the internet.
A few weeks ago, the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy also temporarily restricted the app on government devices due to the same security concerns. However, if DeepSeek can prove its compliance with South Korean data standards, both the app suspension and the government device ban will be reconsidered.
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Australia and Taiwan have taken similar precautions for government employees, and US agencies, including NASA and the Navy, have also begun to restrict DeepSeek’s app and website. US lawmakers are introducing greater restrictions for all government devices.
Last month, Italy ordered DeepSeek to limit how it processes user data, though the implications of that and whether DeepSeek has complied are unclear. Garante, the country’s data protection bureau, is investigating whether DeepSeek complies with GDPR, Europe’s data protection standard.
The growing list of bans mimics some countries’ initial approach to ChatGPT in the months after its release in 2022, at times due to data breaches and security concerns. In early February, Feroot Security found specifications in DeepSeek’s code that forward sensitive user data to Chinese-government-operated companies like China Mobile, which has been banned from operating in the US for years due to security concerns.
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Some security firms have recommended organizations ban downloads of DeepSeek’s app due to the company’s poor encryption practices.
