DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, has temporarily halted the downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea as it collaborates with local authorities to address privacy concerns. According to South Korean officials, the apps were removed from the local Apple App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening. DeepSeek has agreed to work with the Personal Information Protection Commission of South Korea to enhance privacy safeguards before the apps are re-released.
This suspension does not affect users who have already downloaded DeepSeek on their devices or use it on personal computers. Nam Seok, director of the commission’s investigation division, advised South Korean users to either delete the app or refrain from entering personal data into the tool until the privacy concerns are resolved.
Concerns over privacy have led several South Korean government agencies and companies to either block DeepSeek from their networks or ban employees from using the app for work purposes. These actions stem from fears that the AI model might be collecting excessive amounts of sensitive information.
The South Korean privacy commission, which started reviewing DeepSeek’s services last month, discovered that the company was not transparent about transferring data to third parties and may have collected an excessive amount of personal information, according to Nam Seok.
Nam also mentioned that the commission has not yet determined the exact number of DeepSeek users in South Korea. However, a recent study by Wiseapp Retail estimated that around 1.2 million smartphone users in South Korea were using DeepSeek during the fourth week of January, making it the second-most-popular AI model after ChatGPT.