DeepSeek AI chatbot faces data transmission concerns and government bans
Taiwan banned public agencies from using the Chinese-developed DeepSeek AI chatbot in early February 2025 to protect national information security, citing concerns about data transmission to China and possible data breaches. Multiple governments have reportedly begun examining the application over concerns about possible data leaks and the enforcement of Chinese laws against user data.
What happened
Taiwan prohibited public agencies from using DeepSeek on 3 February 2025, with Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai announcing the ban to 'protect national information security.' Universities and research institutions were exempted but advised to use the application only on devices without personal data or research materials and to limit usage to offline environments.
Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs had previously warned government departments and critical infrastructure sectors against using DeepSeek due to concerns about possible data breaches. International concerns focus on Chinese Communist Party backing of the Chinese startup, possible security failures, censorship norms, and application of Chinese laws that could result in user data reaching Beijing.
Reported impact
Reports indicate DeepSeek is transmitting user data from the United States directly to servers in China. The Taiwan government stated that risks related to sending data to China while using DeepSeek services 'have not been clarified nor completely ruled out at this time.'
Index analysis
Concerns include possible security failures, censorship standards, and enforcement of Chinese laws that could allow user data to be obtained by Beijing. Government officials noted concerns about copyright violations linked to the Chinese AI service and skepticism about the data used by DeepSeek to train its language models, which raise possible ideological censorship and bias issues.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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