‘Banned!’ South Korea joins Italy, Australia, Blocks DeepSeek AI App Over Data Privacy Concerns

OwelekeTV (World News) — South Korean authorities have temporarily halted new downloads of the DeepSeek AI app, citing concerns over its handling of user data.

The country’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) announced the decision on Monday, stating that the Chinese AI startup failed to fully comply with South Korea’s data protection laws.

“The Chinese startup appointed legal representatives last week in South Korea and had acknowledged partially neglecting considerations of the country’s data protection law,”

PIPC said.

The commission added that the ban would be lifted once DeepSeek makes necessary adjustments to align with national privacy laws.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry responded to the move, emphasizing that China prioritizes data privacy and does not require companies to collect or store data unlawfully.

South Korea’s decision follows similar actions by other nations.

On February 4, Australia banned DeepSeek on government devices over security concerns. Italy’s privacy regulator also blocked the app for failing to address data policy issues, while Taiwan warned of potential risks tied to cross-border data transmission.

Additionally, regulators in Ireland and France have launched investigations into DeepSeek’s data practices.

DeepSeek, known for its advanced reasoning capabilities, gained widespread adoption and, in January, surpassed OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app on the Apple Store.

What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI startup. Based in Hangzhou city, it was founded by entrepreneur and businessman Liang Feng in 2023. Liang also founded the $7bn hedge fund group High-Flyer with two university classmates in 2016.

In January, DeepSeek released the latest model of its programme, DeepSeek R1, which is a free AI-powered chatbot with a look and feel very similar to ChatGPT, owned by California-headquartered OpenAI.

Which countries are banning DeepSeek’s AI programme?

Some government agencies in several countries are seeking or enacting bans on the AI software for their employees. These include:

United States

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that US lawmakers were planning to introduce a government bill to block DeepSeek from government-owned devices

On January 31, US space agency NASA blocked DeepSeek from its systems and the devices of its employees. A week earlier, the US Navy warned its members in an email against using DeepSeek because of “potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model’s origin and usage”, CNBC reported.

Taiwan
Last week Monday, 10th of February, 2025, Taiwan blocked government departments from using DeepSeek programmes, also blaming security risks.

Australia
The Australian government announced on Tuesday 11th February, 2025 that it has blocked access to DeepSeek on all government devices, claiming there were “security risks”.

This ban was mandated for all government agencies in a Tuesday statement by the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs. The statement directed all government entities to “prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services and where found remove all existing instances of DeepSeek products, applications and web services from all Australian Government systems and devices”.

Why have some countries placed bans on the use of DeepSeek?

Most countries blocking DeepSeek programmes say they are concerned about the security risks posed by the Chinese application. They also say they do not have enough information about how the personal data of users will be stored or used by the group.

Most countries blocking DeepSeek programmes say they are concerned about the security risks posed by the Chinese application. They also say they do not have enough information about how the personal data of users will be stored or used by the group.