South Korea blocks DeepSeek access, citing privacy laws

South Korea is the latest governing body to restrict the Chinese company DeepSeek based on the company's data policies.

South Korean officials on Saturday announced a temporary suspension of downloading the DeepSeek app until it complies with local data protection laws under the country's Personal Information Protection Act.

After analyzing the app's policies, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) "identified some shortcomings in communication functions and personal information processing policies with third-party service providers," according to a press release translated from Korean to English. The PIPC said it will unblock downloads on local app stores once DeepSeek "meets the requirements of domestic protection laws."

DeepSeeks burst onto the AI scene in January with an advanced reasoning chatbot that was free, open-source, and made for a fraction of the cost of popular models like OpenAI's o1. But its privacy policy was just as newsworthy since the company collects extensive user data and stores it on servers in China, making it accessible to the Chinese government in accordance with local laws.

Countries quickly took note and raised the alarm about data protection and national security risks, given China's status as a foreign adversary. Ireland and Italy have both sent inquiries requesting more information about DeepSeek's policies, and Italy has subsequently blocked downloads. Australia also recently banned the use of DeepSeek on government devices. Since DeepSeek's emergence, U.S. federal legislation has been introduced to ban DeepSeek on government devices and New York and Texas have already moved to do the same in their respective state legislation.

Back in South Korea, the announcement said users who have already downloaded DeepSeek will still have access, but told users to "use the app with caution" and not enter personal information.