Recently, Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek 's large-scale language model has gone viral globally, but now its caught the attention of data protection regulators.
According to Techcrunch, the European Consumers Organization (Euroconsumers) and theItalyThe Data Protection Authority (Italian Data Protection Authority, DPA) has jointly filed a complaint against DeepSeek. This is the first time a data protection authority has taken significant action against DeepSeek since its rapid rise in popularity. At the heart of the complaint is the question of whether DeepSeek complies with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when processing personal data.
The Italian Data Protection Authority has sent a letter of request for information to DeepSeek, stating that "the data of millions of people in Italy may be at risk" and asking DeepSeek to respond within 20 days.
In a letter to DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Hangzhou and DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Beijing, the Italian Data Protection Authority asked for clarification of the following:The specific content, source, and use of the personal data collected by DeepSeek, in particular for the training of its artificial intelligence systems, as well as the legal basis for the data processing. In addition, the agency requested more details about the Chinese servers and asked how registered and unregistered users are informed about the processing of their data if personal data are collected through web crawling activities.
According to news outlet MLex, the European consumer organization also noted that DeepSeek does not clearly state in its service how it protects minors or restricts their use, including age verification and how it handles minors' data. According to 1AI, while DeepSeek's age policy states that its service is not available to users under the age of 18, it does not provide any verification mechanisms. For users between the ages of 14 and 18, DeepSeek recommends that they read the Privacy Policy with an adult.
