South Korean authorities have decided to temporarily halt the download of the DeepSeek app from the Chinese AI Lab DeepSeek on all app stores pending the protection of user data following local laws.
PIPC said the app would be back on once DeepSeek addresses privacy issues and modifies its conduct according to South Korean laws.
Said this restriction poses no difficulty to current users of the DeepSeek app and web service in South Korea. 
Nonetheless, it urges such users not to input any personal information over the app until a definitive decision on compliance with local privacy guidelines has been rendered.
These initial evaluations revealed concerns relating to third-party service provision and privacy policies on DeepSeek in the preliminary work done by PIPC. DeepSeek has not responded to requests for comment regarding these findings. The agency also said that DeepSeek set up a local representative in South Korea, who admitted that they didn’t know anything about the privacy law when they started operations.
South Korea’s cautious approach is not the only one. Other countries are cracking down on Deepseek just because of its Chinese origins. To mention but a few, Australia banned the app from being utilized on government devices over security concerns; Italy’s Garante instructed Deepseek to deactivate its chatbot in that country; Taiwan banned its administration departments from using AI DeepSeek. This escalation therefore paints us a general picture of Deepseek remaining under controversy on the international scene with regards to data privacy and security.