Nations Ban DeepSeek AI: Here's the Reason

Regulators around the globe are stepping up their game against DeepSeek AI, the Chinese startup that's been turning heads with its two open-source models. It's been a whirlwind of actions and restrictions, and it's not slowing down. Just this Tuesday, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) made a bold move by pulling DeepSeek's chatbot app from both Google Play and the App Store. Why? Well, DeepSeek didn't quite meet South Korea's data protection standards. They asked DeepSeek to hit pause on the app's availability, and to their credit, DeepSeek complied. This means no new downloads for folks in South Korea, but if you've already got the app on your device, you're good to go. And hey, you can still chat it up with DeepSeek via the internet. A few weeks back, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy threw a temporary wrench in the works by restricting the app on government devices, citing the same security worries. But here's the kicker: if DeepSeek can show they're playing by South Korea's data rules, both the app suspension and the government device ban could be up for review. It's not just South Korea, though. Australia and Taiwan have jumped on the bandwagon, taking similar steps for their government employees. And over in the US, agencies like NASA and the Navy are starting to clamp down on DeepSeek's app and website. US lawmakers are even pushing for tighter restrictions across all government devices. Last month, Italy told DeepSeek to ease up on how it handles user data, but it's still a bit murky whether DeepSeek's playing by those rules. Garante, Italy's data protection watchdog, is digging into whether DeepSeek's GDPR-compliant—that's Europe's big data protection standard. The list of bans is growing, and it's starting to look a lot like the early days of ChatGPT back in 2022, when countries were scrambling over data breaches and security concerns. And just in early February, Feroot Security uncovered some troubling details in DeepSeek's code. It turns out, sensitive user data was being sent to companies like China Mobile, which has been a no-go in the US for years due to security issues. Some security experts are even advising organizations to steer clear of DeepSeek's app altogether, pointing to the company's less-than-stellar encryption practices. It's a wild ride, and it's far from over.

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