South Korea Removes Deepseek from App Stores as It Fails to Comply with Data Protection Rules

Key Takeaways

• South Korea has paused new downloads of the Chinese AI app DeepSeek due to non-compliance with its data protection laws. Existing users can still access the app, but services will resume only after privacy concerns are addressed.
• Several countries, including Taiwan and Italy, have already banned DeepSeek over data security issues, fearing potential misuse by the Chinese government.
• The app recently gained massive popularity, surpassing ChatGPT in downloads, but its unclear data policies have led to increased scrutiny and regulatory actions worldwide.

The data protection authorities of South Korea said that new downloads of the Chinese app DeepSeek will be paused for a while after the company acknowledges that it has failed to comply with personal data protection rules.

The services will resume once changes are done to ensure compliance with the country's privacy law. Until then, users who have already downloaded the app can continue using it without any restrictions.

Last month, the Personal Information Protection Commission of South Korea sent a written request to Deepseek asking for details on how the company manages user's personal data when several countries had already banned the app for security concerns.

Deepseek appointed a team of legal representatives last week to handle the situation and agreed that it had partially neglected some considerations of South Korea's data protection law, agreeing to the temporary suspension of the platform until the concerns are resolved.

The Chinese came into the limelight last month when it surpassed ChatGPT to become the most downloaded free app on App stores with its latest R1 model.

Users were very impressed with the results provided by this AI, and the fact that it was created at a fraction of the cost of other AI apps shook the entire AI market and caused massive losses on the US stock market.

Bringing the app back into line with local privacy will take a good amount of time as per the committee. Keeping the app live could significantly amplify risks to the safety of users which is why this step was considered fit by the parties involved.

The committee has recommended that until the changes are done, current users practice caution when sharing personal information with DeepSeek.

Other Countries' Apprehension Towards AI

South Korea isn't the first country to raise security concerns about DeepSeek. Before this, several countries like Taiwan and Thailand and states like Texas had already banned Deepseek.

After its quick rise to success, Deepseek suddenly saw a downfall as questions regarding its privacy policy and user data anonymity started to surface. Governments of several countries including Australia and Italy are completely barred from using this platform.

When DeepSeek was requested for a statement on this topic, it remained silent. This further strengthened the notion that the Chinese government might have some degree of control over the company. In that case, there isn't much the company will be able to do to protect user's data from being used by the government for unfair advantage over other countries.

Following the bans, the Chinese government finally responded saying it has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect and store data.

However, how much of that sentence is true is a matter of discretion. Whether Deepseek will be able to overcome these concerns or follow TikTok's path? Only time will tell.

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