Factbox-Governments, regulators increase scrutiny of China's DeepSeek

Oct 20 (Reuters) - Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which said in January last year it had developed an AI model to rival ChatGPT at a much lower cost, has come under scrutiny in some countries for its security policies and privacy practices.

The US Department of Homeland Security is ordering the removal of DeepSeek products from civilian agency IT systems, the latest action against the Chinese AI startup.

According to its own privacy policy, DeepSeek stores numerous pieces of personal data, such as requests to its AI programme or uploaded files, on computers in China.

Below are countries' actions regarding DeepSeek:

AUSTRALIA

In February last year, Australia banned DeepSeek from all government devices over concerns that it posed security risks.

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech government banned the country's public administration from using any of the services of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in July last year, due to data security concerns.

FRANCE

France's privacy watchdog said in January 2025 it will question DeepSeek to gain a better idea of how the Chinese startup's AI system works and any possible privacy risks for users.

GERMANY

Germany has asked Apple and Google to remove DeepSeek from their stores due to concerns about data safety, a data protection authority commissioner said in June last year.

INDIA

India's finance ministry asked its employees at the beginning of February last year to avoid using AI tools including ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official purposes, citing risks posed to confidentiality of government documents and data.

ITALY

Italy's antitrust watchdog AGCM has ended an investigation into the Chinese AI system DeepSeek for allegedly failing to warn users that it may produce false information, agreeing to binding commitments as a condition for closing the case.

Earlier last year, it blocked the app citing a lack of information on its use of personal data.

NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands' privacy watchdog said in January last year, it would launch an investigation into Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek's data collection practices and urged Dutch users to exercise caution with the company's software.

The government has also banned civil servants from using the app, citing policy regarding countries with an offensive cyber program, the government spokesperson said in late July.

RUSSIA

Russia's President Vladimir Putin in early February last year instructed Sberbank to collaborate with Chinese researchers on joint AI projects, a top executive at Russia's biggest bank told Reuters.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea's data protection authority said in mid-February last year that new downloads of the DeepSeek app had been suspended in the country after the startup acknowledged failing to take into account some of the agency's rules on protecting personal data.

Earlier last year, the industry minister had temporarily blocked employee access to DeepSeek due to security concerns.

The service became available again at the end of April in 2025.

TAIWAN

Taiwan in February last year banned government departments from using DeepSeek's service as it saw it as a security risk. It also raised concerns about censorship on DeepSeek and the risk of data ending up in China.

UNITED STATES

The Department of Homeland Security said earlier this month it was ordering the removal of DeepSeek products, and third-party services using its models, from US civilian agency IT systems and banning their acquisition. It said the models pose "multiple threat vectors," including the possible transfer of sensitive data to China.

Several US agencies, including the Commerce Department and the Navy, and states including New York, Tennessee and Virginia, had previously banned DeepSeek on government devices.

The Trump administration is weighing penalties that would block DeepSeek from buying US technology, and is debating barring Americans' access to its services, the New York Times reported in April.

A group of nine US lawmakers sent in December a letter to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urging the Pentagon to add a slew of Chinese technology firms, including DeepSeek, to a list of entities allegedly assisting the Chinese military.

Seven Republican US senators in August already asked the Commerce Department to evaluate potential data security vulnerabilities posed by Chinese open-source AI models like DeepSeek.

(Compiled by Mateusz Rabiega, Paolo Laudani and Tristan Veyet in Gdansk and Prathik Jayaprakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Devika Syamnath)