Temporarily Suspended from 6 p.m. on the 15th
Service to Resume After Improvements and Supplements
PIPC: "New App Downloads of DeepSeek Restricted in App Markets"
"Existing Users Should Not Enter Personal Information"
The domestic service of the Chinese DeepSeek application (app) was temporarily suspended from 6 p.m. on the 15th, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) announced on the 17th. The service is expected to resume after improvements and supplements are made in accordance with the domestic Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
Right after the launch of the DeepSeek service, the PIPC sent an official inquiry regarding the collection and processing of personal information to DeepSeek headquarters on the 31st of last month and began its own analysis of the service. The PIPC stated, "As a result of our analysis, some deficiencies related to third-party operators, communication functions, and personal information processing policies pointed out by domestic and international media were confirmed."
DeepSeek told the PIPC, "After designating a domestic agent on the 10th, we acknowledged that consideration of domestic protection laws was somewhat lacking during the global service launch process, and we have expressed our intention to actively cooperate with the PIPC going forward."
The PIPC said, "Considering that it will inevitably take considerable time to rectify the DeepSeek service according to the protection law, we recommended DeepSeek to temporarily suspend the service first to prevent further concerns from spreading and then make improvements and supplements." They added, "DeepSeek accepted this and temporarily suspended the DeepSeek service on domestic app markets from 6 p.m. on the 15th."
Choi Jang-hyuk, Vice Chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, is giving a briefing on DeepSeek at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 17th. The Commission announced that the domestic service of the DeepSeek app will be temporarily suspended from 6 a.m. on Saturday, February 15, and will resume service after improvements and supplements are made in accordance with the domestic Personal Information Protection Act. 2025.2.17 Photo by Jo Yong-jun
The PIPC stated, "During the service suspension period, we plan to thoroughly inspect the personal information processing status of the DeepSeek service to ensure full compliance with the protection law and to alleviate concerns about the protection of our citizens' personal information."
They continued, "Last year, the preliminary inspection of six major AI services including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft (MS) took about five months, but this inspection is limited to one operator, and with accumulated experience and know-how, it is expected to proceed more swiftly."
Preliminary inspections are conducted when there is a recognized need to check in advance for high risks of personal information breach incidents and vulnerabilities in personal information protection. The PIPC plans to encourage improvements so that the DeepSeek service meets the requirements mandated by domestic protection laws during the inspection process.
The PIPC said, "Especially when announcing the final results, we will present a checklist-style guide for overseas AI developers to check before launching domestic services. Additionally, in the era of AI popularization, we will promote legal amendments to establish AI-specific exceptions under the protection law and strengthen enforcement against overseas operators to balance AI utilization and personal information protection."
Furthermore, they said, "We will also solidify cooperation among major national supervisory bodies established in response to DeepSeek and concretize this through the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) to be held in Seoul this September." The GPA is the world's largest international personal information supervisory body consortium, with 148 organizations from 95 countries including South Korea, the United States, the European Union, and Japan.
The PIPC urged existing users who have already downloaded and used DeepSeek from app markets and web users, "This temporary suspension of the DeepSeek app means restricting new app downloads from app markets, and existing users are once again urged to use the service cautiously by refraining from entering personal information into the DeepSeek input field (prompt) until the final results are announced."
They added, "While the download restriction in app markets will block the spread of DeepSeek service use via the app, existing app users and web service users are not restricted but require caution. We also plan to review the personal information processing and storage status of existing users during the inspection process and will devise measures if necessary."
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