South Korean Regulatory Body Removes App with Privacy Issues: The Case of DeepSeek’s Removal

Getty Images South Korea has suspended new downloads of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, according to the countrys personal data protection watchdog.

The government agency stated that the AI model will be made available again to South Korean users when improvements and remedies are implemented to ensure compliance with the nation’s personal data protection laws. In the week after its global debut, DeepSeek surged in popularity in South Korea, topping app stores with over a million weekly downloads.

However, its rise also drew scrutiny from various countries which have imposed restrictions due to privacy and national security concerns. The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on Saturday evening that the DeepSeek app would become unavailable on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. This decision followed several South Korean government agencies’ bans of their employees downloading the chatbot onto work devices.

South Koreas acting president, Choi Sang-mok, described DeepSeek as a “shock” that could impact multiple industries beyond just AI. Despite the suspension on new downloads, users who already have it installed can continue using the app or access it via DeepSeek’s website.

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Chinas DeepSeek made significant waves in the technology industry, markets, and Americas confidence in its AI leadership when it launched its latest application at the end of last month. Its rapid rise as a popular global AI chatbot sparked concerns across various jurisdictions.

In addition to South Korea, Taiwan has also banned the app from all government devices. The Australian government’s ban is not due to DeepSeeks Chinese origin but because they claim it poses an “unacceptable risk” to national security. Italys regulator, which briefly restricted ChatGPT in 2023, took similar action against DeepSeek.

The company has been asked to address privacy policy concerns before it can be relisted on app stores. Authorities in France and Ireland have also questioned how DeepSeek manages personal information of its citizens – particularly whether data is stored on servers within China as suggested by their privacy policy.

DeepSeeks Large Language Model (LLM) has reasoning capabilities comparable to those of US models like OpenAI’s GPT-4, yet reportedly requires a fraction of the cost for training and operation. This raises questions about the billions being invested into AI infrastructure in both the United States and other regions.

International Business – Artificial intelligence