By admin 
Seoul, South Korea: Chinese AI app DeepSeek has been temporarily removed from South Korean app stores as authorities review its data privacy practices. The move comes after concerns were raised regarding how the app handles user data. DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot impressed industry insiders with its competitive performance at a fraction of the cost of its Western counterparts, but several countries have questioned its data storage practices, particularly the fact that it is stored on “secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China.”
On Monday, Seoul’s Personal Information Protection Commission announced that DeepSeek would be unavailable for download until it undergoes a review of its personal data handling. The commission noted that DeepSeek had acknowledged that its privacy policies lacked sufficient consideration for domestic laws and that compliance with South Korea’s privacy regulations would likely take significant time.
To mitigate concerns, the commission recommended that DeepSeek temporarily suspend its service in South Korea while addressing the necessary changes. The company has agreed to this recommendation.
As of Saturday, the app was removed from local app stores at 6:00 pm (0900 GMT), and it remains unavailable for new downloads. However, users who already have the app can still access its services. Seoul’s data protection agency has urged caution in using the app, advising users to avoid entering personal information until the review is completed.
Professor Youm Heung-youl, an expert in data security at Soonchunhyang University, noted that DeepSeek has not provided a privacy policy tailored to South Korean users, unlike its disclosures for the European Union and other regions. He emphasized the need for the company to establish a privacy policy specific to South Korea.
In response to the controversy, several South Korean government ministries and police have blocked access to DeepSeek on their computers. The app has also faced scrutiny in other countries, with Italy investigating the chatbot and blocking it from processing data for its users, while Australia has banned it on government devices. U.S. lawmakers have proposed a bill to prevent DeepSeek from being used on government devices due to security concerns over user data.
In reaction to these actions, the Chinese government has voiced opposition to what it calls the “politicisation of economic, trade, and technological issues” and reiterated that it has never forced companies or individuals to illegally collect or store data.
Gill Bikram Singh