A government investigation into DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence(AI) app has found that the Chinese AI startup transferred users’ personal information without their consent.
 
The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on Thursday the results of its inspection and deliberations on DeepSeek’s data processing policy and procedures.

According to the agency, when the company launched its service in South Korea in January, it only posted information about its processing policy in Chinese and English, and failed to take into account domestic rules on the handling of personal information such as citing its procedures and methods for destroying such data.

The investigation also revealed that DeepSeek did not obtain user permission before transferring personal data to companies in China and the United States, adding that it also transmitted user information to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. 

With regard to concerns about the monitoring of users’ keyboard input patterns, DeepSeek told the commission that it did not actually collect such information and that it would be excluded from future processing plans. 
 
The commission has issued corrective recommendations for DeepSeek such as destroying the contents of user information that has already been transferred, establishing a legal basis for transferring personal information abroad, and disclosing its data processing policy in Korean.