South Korea has accused Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of sharing user data with ByteDance, the owner of TikTok. The country’s data protection regulator, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), confirmed it had found evidence of communication between the two companies.
DeepSeek had already been removed from Apple and Google’s app stores in South Korea over the weekend due to privacy concerns. The app gained global attention in January, wiping billions off stock markets amid claims it trained its AI model at a significantly lower cost than US competitors like ChatGPT. Despite its initial popularity, DeepSeek now lags far behind ChatGPT in rankings.
A US cybersecurity firm, Security Scorecard, raised concerns in February, alleging potential data-sharing links between DeepSeek and ByteDance. Their report found multiple connections between DeepSeek’s Android app and ByteDance’s analytics and monitoring systems. It also suggested that user behaviour and device metadata could be transmitted to ByteDance servers and even to Chinese state-linked entities.
The PIPC admitted it had not yet determined what data was transferred or to what extent, but urged caution. While DeepSeek cooperates with the investigation, the regulator warned users to avoid entering personal information into the chatbot.
Several countries, including Australia and Taiwan, have already banned DeepSeek on government devices. Concerns over data security were also a key factor in the US Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a TikTok ban, though the final ruling is on hold until 5 April.
