Data protection concerns: After Italy, South Korea also bans DeepSeek

The South Korean government has banned the use of the Chinese AI application DeepSeek, citing inadequate data protection as the reason for the move. This was reported by the Yonhap news agency, citing the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC). The ban imposed at the weekend will not be lifted until "improvements and remedial measures" are implemented to ensure that South Korea's data protection laws are complied with. Previously, several ministries and government agencies had already blocked access to the AI application, citing data collection as the reason.

South Korea is not alone in its concerns, but such far-reaching consequences have so far only been drawn in Italy. However, authorities and cyber security experts in Germany have also expressed serious security concerns about DeepSeek. The obviously very extensive storage of user data is also criticized in this country. However, the potential manipulability of the application for criminal purposes and the question of the extent to which the Chinese espionage and surveillance apparatus has access to user data are also causing concern. In Germany, a review procedure is therefore being prepared in Rhineland-Palatinate, among other places, and DeepSeek has not yet appointed an EU representative.

According to Yonhap, South Korea's Data Protection Commission already sent a request to DeepSeek in January to obtain clarity on the collection and storage of data. In Germany, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has pointed out that DeepSeek claims to collect "keystroke patterns or rhythms". This should enable users to be identified. However, it may be possible to read keystrokes within the app even before they are sent. Although this is not a keylogger, the behavior is "questionable, at least for security-critical areas".

(mho)