A South Korean government agency has uncovered that the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) application DeepSeek was involved in the unauthorized transfer of personal data to a cloud service associated with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) detailed on Thursday that the data, which included device specifics and user inputs, was being moved to servers hosted by Beijing’s Volcano Engine platform.
The broader implications of this revelation have prompted nations such as South Korea, Italy, and Australia, along with certain U.S. states, to either restrict or ban the app. DeepSeek, which had rapidly gained attention early this year due to its alleged ability to rival Western AI tools at a reduced cost, has assured cooperation with the PIPC and a prospective review of its data protection strategies.
The PIPC initiated a comprehensive investigation in February, compelling DeepSeek to halt new app downloads pending a stringent evaluation of its data collection methods. Speaking on behalf of the PIPC, Nam Seok highlighted the issue with DeepSeek collecting data without consent or transparent privacy disclosures. “Initially, DeepSeek transferred personal data to companies located in China and the United States without obtaining users’ consent, or disclosing this in the privacy policy at the time the service was launched,” Seok said, adding: “In particular, it was confirmed that DeepSeek transferred not only device, net
