South Korea halts DeepSeek downloads amid data privacy review
3 Min Read
South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission announces that DeepSeek would be temporarily removed from local app stores while authorities assess its data collection practices.
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This photo illustration taken on February 17, 2025, in Goyang, shows screens displaying web pages of the Chinese AI DeepSeek. (AFP)
Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek will remain unavailable for download in South Korea pending a review of its data handling practices, Seoul authorities announced on Monday.
DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot has drawn significant attention from investors and industry experts for its ability to rival Western AI models at a fraction of the cost. However, concerns have been raised in multiple countries over how the company stores user data, which DeepSeek claims is housed in "secure servers located in the People's Republic of China."
On Monday, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission announced that DeepSeek would be temporarily removed from local app stores while authorities assess its data collection practices.
The Chinese AI firm has "acknowledged that considerations for domestic privacy laws were somewhat lacking," the commission stated. It further noted that aligning the app with South Korea’s privacy regulations would "inevitably take a significant amount of time."
"To prevent further concerns from spreading, the commission recommended that DeepSeek temporarily suspend its service while making the necessary improvements," the agency said, adding that the company had "accepted" the proposal.
As a result, DeepSeek was removed from South Korean app stores at 6:00 pm local time (0900 GMT) on Saturday and remains unavailable for new downloads. However, users who had already installed the app can continue using the AI chatbot.
Seoul’s data protection agency has "strongly advised" users to exercise caution when using the service until the review is complete, specifically recommending they refrain from entering personal information into the DeepSeek input field.
Cybersecurity analyst Youm Heung-youl told AFP that DeepSeek has yet to introduce a privacy policy tailored specifically to South Korean users.
"It has on the other hand disclosed a privacy policy for the EU and certain other countries, stating that it complies with the domestic laws of those nations," said Youm, a professor of data security at Soonchunhyang University.
The suspension comes as South Korean government ministries and police agencies have already blocked access to DeepSeek on official computers.
Italy has also launched an investigation into DeepSeek’s R1 model and barred it from processing Italian user data, while Australia has banned the app from all government devices following security agency recommendations.
In the United States, lawmakers have introduced a bill seeking to prohibit DeepSeek’s use on government devices due to concerns over user data security.
In response to the growing restrictions, the Chinese government has condemned what it calls the "politicization of economic, trade, and technological issues," insisting that it "has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect or store data."
Read more: Fearing DeepSeek rise, OpenAI rushes for alliance with S.Korea’s Kakao
