Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app DeepSeek would not be available to download in South Korea pending a review of its handling of user data, Seoul authorities said yesterday.
DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot stunned investors and industry insiders with its ability to match the functions of its Western rivals at a fraction of the cost, but a number of countries have questioned its storage of user data, which the firm says is collected in “secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China.”
The South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission said that DeepSeek would no longer be available for download until a review of its personal data collection practices was carried out.
Photo: AP
The Chinese AI firm has “acknowledged that considerations for domestic privacy laws were somewhat lacking,” the data protection agency said.
It assessed that bringing the app into line with local privacy laws “would inevitably take a significant amount of time,” it added.
“To prevent further concerns from spreading, the commission recommended that DeepSeek temporarily suspend its service while making the necessary improvements,” it said.
DeepSeek has “accepted” that proposal, it added.
The app was removed from local app stores on Saturday at 6pm and remains unavailable. It can still be used by those who have already downloaded the app.
The commission said it “strongly advised” people to “use the service with caution until the final results are announced.”
That included “refraining from entering personal information into the DeepSeek input field,” it said.
Analyst Youm Heung-youl said that the firm has yet to lay out a privacy policy “specifically tailored” for users in South Korea.
“It has on the other hand disclosed a privacy policy for the EU and certain other countries, stating that it complies with the domestic laws of those nations,” said Youm, a data security professor at Soonchunhyang University.
Asked about the app’s removal, Beijing yesterday said that it asked Chinese firms to run their “overseas operations on the basis of strict abidance by local laws and regulations.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) also urged “relevant countries” to “avoid taking measures that overstretch the concept of security or politicize trade and technology issues.”
This month, a slew of South Korean government ministries and police said they blocked access to DeepSeek on their computers.
Italy has also launched an investigation into DeepSeek’s R1 model and blocked it from processing Italian users’ data.
Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices on the advice of security agencies.
US lawmakers have also proposed a bill to ban DeepSeek from being used on government devices over concerns about user data security.
In response to the bans, the Chinese government has insisted it “has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect or store data.”
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS