S Poddar
South Korea has pulled DeepSeek, a highly used AI chatbot created by China, from its app stores over privacy issues. The move, announced by the nation’s data protection authority, will prevent users from downloading the app temporarily. Nevertheless, the app will be reinstated once it has been subjected to “improvements and remedies” to bring it in line with South Korea’s strict personal data protection laws.
DeepSeek, which became hugely popular in South Korea after breaking news globally, soon became the darling of the local users with more than a million weekly active users. However, its explosive growth also made it a subject of concern across several nations with fears over privacy and national security. The sudden popularity of the app drew the attention of concerns, especially as to how it treats personal data and whether or not it compromises user privacy.
The South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission, which is the nation’s data watchdog, verified that DeepSeek was pulled from both Apple App Store and Google Play by Saturday night. This was after an instruction by several South Korean government departments, which had told staff members not to download the chatbot on company computers.
Choi Sang-mok, who is South Korea’s acting president, was wary of the potential wider effect of DeepSeek, as it might pose serious consequences for industries beyond AI alone. Even with new downloads suspended, those who have installed the application can still use it, or they can use it via the DeepSeek website.
The success of DeepSeek had come towards the latter part of last month when it went on sale, causing a stir in the technology industry and disrupting the reign of American AI companies. The app of the Chinese company became an overnight sensation with its capabilities, being compared to other prominent AI models like OpenAI’s GPT. Yet, the manner in which DeepSeek became popular also created concerns over data privacy and security.
South Korea is, however, not the only nation that has acted against DeepSeek. Taiwan and Australia have also prohibited the app from being installed on official devices, citing the same threat to national security. Australia has clarified that its prohibition is not based on the app’s Chinese origin but on the “unacceptable risk” it presents to national security.
In Europe, Italy’s data watchdog placed a temporary prohibition on DeepSeek, following the same reservations that were expressed by the French and Irish authorities. These nations are asking how DeepSeek processes personal data, especially if it saves information on servers in China, as its privacy policy indicates. The privacy policy of the app says that it can gather data like email addresses, dates of birth, and other input provided by users, which it utilizes to enhance its services.
The United States has also spoken out regarding DeepSeek, with legislators introducing legislation that would prohibit the use of the app on federal devices. A few states in the United States, such as Texas, Virginia, and New York, have already adopted similar prohibitions on state government workers. These moves mirror more general concern about surveillance threats from AI technologies from foreign governments.
DeepSeek’s large language model (LLM), which boasts reasoning capabilities comparable to those of U.S.-based AI models like OpenAI’s GPT, has also sparked debates about the cost efficiency of AI development. Reportedly, DeepSeek’s AI system requires a fraction of the cost to train and operate compared to its American counterparts, which raises questions about the billions of dollars being invested in AI infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere.
While debate rages over DeepSeek, one point is certain: the world is sharply divided about the consequences of the next-generation AI technologies. While some believe it is a revolutionary tool with tremendous potential, others perceive it as a menace to privacy and security at the national level. For the time being, the fate of the app in South Korea and other nations is unclear, as regulators continue to examine its operations and data-handling habits.
