DeepSeek AI identified as personal data breach risk
Germany’s Data Protection Commissioner, Meike Kamp, has formally requested that Apple and Google remove the Chinese AI chatbot app DeepSeek from their German app stores after finding it illegally transfers German users’ personal data to servers in China, without adequate safeguards to meet EU standards.
Kamp noted that the app’s own privacy policy stores data including AI interactions and uploaded files in China. It is understood that the German Commissioner’s previous attempts in May to compel compliance or voluntary withdrawal were ignored.
The app, created by Chinese companies Hangzhou DeepSeek and Beijing DeepSeek, gained popularity for offering a cheaper AI chatbot alternative using fewer high-end chips. However, its growing presence in Europe has sparked privacy concerns. Kamp’s office notified Apple and Google and expects both tech giants to perform a “timely review” of whether the app should remain available.
If both platforms remove it, the result could be a de facto ban across the entire European Union and potentially the UK as well.
Source: Germany Warns Apple, Google on DeepSeek App Over Privacy Breaches Tied to China | IBTimes
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