Chyung Eun-ju

When DeepSeek burst into the global AI scene earlier this year, it shook up not just the tech world, but also the global market. However, just as it has been a lurking issue with other AI technologies, it sparked concerns over data privacy, security and regulatory compliance. Developed by the Chinese startup founded by Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek’s chatbot gained, almost overnight, a massive international user base, rising to the top of app stores and drawing comparisons to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Its sudden rise, however, also came with a price, as various countries held regulatory concerns over this new platform. Korea has recently fallen into one of the countries that have put DeepSeek under regulatory scrutiny, suspending new downloads due to concerns over how it processes user data.

We believe that DeepSeek’s success and broad public acceptance were driven by its ability to deliver high-performance AI at a cost significantly lower than its Western competitors. But, just as has occurred for its competitors, questions about how DeepSeek handles user data have emerged and gained public attention, as users are becoming more and more conscious of the importance of data protection for preserving their privacy.

Joel Cho

Recent reports suggested that DeepSeek shares data with ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok, raising concerns of possible data transfers to Chinese state-linked entities. These revelations, coupled with China’s data protection laws, have led regulators to question whether DeepSeek can adequately protect user privacy. These concerns have led the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) of Korea to decide on the temporary removal of DeepSeek from app stores within the country until its data practices could be examined further. While........

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