Personal Information Protection Commission

Press Release

DeepSeek Temporarily Suspends Its Application Service in Korea

- DeepSeek decided to temporarily stop providing its service via an application in Korea and improve and complement its status to comply with the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA)

February 17, 2025 

(This is an unofficial translation of a press release, originally prepared in Korean.)

DeepSeek has temporarily suspended its service in Korea as of February 15, 2025, to enhance compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). The company plans to resume service once necessary improvements are made.

1. Developments in Response to DeepSeek

Following the launch of DeepSeek's R1 LLM AI chatbot, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) sent an inquiry requesting details on what personal data is collected, the legal basis for its processing, and whether user data is stored in China. The PIPC also initiated an analysis on how this chatbot functions.

Amid media outlets’ voicing concerns over this AI chatbot service, the PIPC’s analysis found out traffic generated by third-party data transfers and insufficient transparency in DeepSeek’s privacy policy.

DeepSeek appointed a domestic agent on February 10. The company has committed to actively cooperating with the PIPC, saying it failed to take into account meeting the legal requirements pursuant to the PIPA when launching its service globally.

To mitigate further concerns, the PIPC recommended that DeepSeek temporarily suspend its chatbot service until necessary updates are implemented. In agreement with this recommendation, DeepSeek removed its application from Apple’s App Store and Google Play on February 15, 2025.

2. Future Steps

During the suspension period, the PIPC will closely monitor DeepSeek’s compliance efforts to ensure adherence to PIPA and alleviate privacy concerns.

Last year, the PIPC conducted an ex-ante examination of major AI-powered services, including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. However, given its accumulated experience and know-how in such examinations, the PIPC expects to expedite the process for DeepSeek.

As part of the ongoing examination, the PIPC will work with DeepSeek to align its practices with legal requirements. Once the final results are available, the PIPC plans to introduce a compliance checklist for foreign AI developers launching their services domestically.

Additionally, the PIPC will push for making amendments to PIPA to establish special provisions for AI and strengthen enforcement measures against foreign businesses. The commission aims to strike a balance between AI-driven innovation and privacy protection.

In response to growing privacy concerns surrounding AI, the PIPC will strengthen international cooperation with global data protection authorities. These efforts will be further discussed at the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) in Seoul this September, where 148 accredited member organizations across 95 countries will convene to advance global data protection standards.

3. Advisory for Existing Users

Although new downloads of the DeepSeek app have been suspended, existing users can continue to access the service. The PIPC urges users to exercise caution and avoid entering personal information into the chatbot until the PIPC’s ex-ante examination is complete. Users who have already downloaded the app or access it via the web are advised to refer to the PIPC’s card news on “How to Use Generative AI While Securing Your Personal Information.”

Throughout the examination, the PIPC will monitor how DeepSeek processes and stores existing users’ data and come up with further measures if necessary.

* A PDF file, formatted for better readability, is attached.