Admitting Violation, DeepSeek Blocked from New Downloads in South Korea

South Korea's data protection agency has blocked new downloads of DeepSeek after the Chinese AI app admitted it did not comply with some of the country's personal data protection rules.

According to the Personal Information Protection Commission of South Korea (PIPC), the DeepSeek app's service will only be allowed to continue after improvements are made in accordance with the country's privacy laws.

DeepSeek admits to violating personal data protection laws in South Korea.

The blocking measure, which took effect on Saturday, is aimed at preventing South Korean users from downloading new apps, although DeepSeek's web service remains accessible in the country, PIPC said.

Last week, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup appointed a legal representative in South Korea and admitted to having partially ignored considerations of data protection laws in the country.

In January, Italy's data protection authority, Garante, ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country, for failing to address the regulator's concerns about its privacy policy.

When asked about previous moves by South Korean government agencies to block DeepSeek, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded at a press conference on February 6 that the Chinese government attaches great importance to data privacy and security and protects data in accordance with the law.

The spokesperson also said Beijing would never ask any company or individual to collect or store data in violation of the law.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/thua-nhan-vi-pham-deepseek-bi-chan-tai-moi-tai-han-quoc-192250217134137231.htm