South Korea blocked the Deepseek app in the country app stores

South Korean officials temporarily blocked the download of the Deepseek app, made by the Chinese Artificial Intelligence Lab, in the app stores. These conditions will continue to determine how user data will be managed and maintained.

Why has South Korea restricted download Deepseek app?

According to the TechcRunch report, the South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said the Depsic app will be downloadable again when it is in accordance with its privacy laws and make the necessary changes. These restrictions will not affect the use of the app and the web version, but the institution has urged current users to refrain from entering personal information inside Deepseek until final decision.

In late January, after the release of Deepseek in South Korea, PIPC had asked the Chinese Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to explain how to collect and process personal data. Evaluations identified problems with third -party services and Deepseek privacy policies.

The commission says his research has shown that Deepseek has transferred South Korean users’ data to Tiktak’s parent company, Tiktak’s parent company.

The agency also announced that Deepseek recently appointed a local representative in South Korea and acknowledged that he was not familiar with South Korea’s privacy laws when launching its service. The Chinese company announced last Friday that it will work closely with Korean officials.

Earlier this month, the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, police and a government company called Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power banned access to the Chinese startup due to security concerns in their devices.

South Korea is not the only country to act cautiously about Deepseek. Australia has also banned the use of Deepseek in its government agencies due to security concerns. The Italian Data Protection Agency (Garante) also urged Deepseek to block its chats in the country, and Taiwan has banned the use of Deepseek in government sectors.

Founded in Hangzhou, China, Deepsic founded Liang Vanfong in 2023 and introduced the free and open source of the Deepseek R1, competing with the Openai O1 model.