Korea suspends DeepSeek app downloads over user data transfer to ByteDance

“We found that DeepSeek’s user data was leaked to ByteDance,” the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said on Feb. 17. “When users accessed DeepSeek, their information was being passed on to ByteDance as well.”

The PIPC said ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, enacted the suspension voluntarily upon the regulator’s request, admitting that it had neglected to adhere to domestic data protection laws during the launch of its global service.

The finding was the result of the PIPC’s ongoing investigation of DeepSeek’s data security policies after a slew of government agencies and private corporations blocked the use of the service on their office devices. The commission did not specify the types of data it alleged had been passed to ByteDance but said the matter would be “clarified” during the investigation.

“We determined it would take a significant amount of time to rectify the DeepSeek service,” the commission said in a briefing. “To prevent further concerns from spreading, we recommended that DeepSeek temporarily halt its service in Korea while making necessary adjustments.”

DeepSeek is currently not available on the iOS App Store or Google Play Store for users with their locations set to Korea, though those with overseas app store locations can still download it. Korea-based users who had obtained the app before that date can still use the service. They can also access the service via web.

“The commission is in the stage of investigation whether DeepSeek poses any harm,” the PIPC said. “A full-scale ban could be controversial before its liability is officially determined.”

The regulator expects to complete its probe faster than it did its combined probe into the data management of OpenAI, Google and Microsoft last year, which took five months.

The regulator will release guidelines for AI developers releasing their services in Korea after its DeepSeek investigation is complete.

The commission is also working to revise the current Personal Data Protection Act to include stricter regulations on foreign companies.

In the meantime, it requested that individual users to be prudent in entering personal information into DeepSeek’s app.

The agency plans to discuss security issues surrounding DeepSeek at the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA), which will take place in Seoul in September. The assembly is one of the world’s largest global networks of data protection authorities, counting the United States, the European Union, Japan and Korea as members.

DeepSeek appointed a local representative in Korea last week.