DeepSeek removed from Italian app stores over privacy and data security concerns
Italian privacy authorities removed the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from app stores in January 2025 following concerns about data handling and security vulnerabilities. Research found the system was more likely to generate harmful, biased, and dangerous content including terrorist recruitment materials and instructions for illegal activities.
What happened
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI chatbot, was removed from Apple and Google app stores in Italy on January 30, 2025, following a request for information from the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante della Privacy).
A security study by Enkrypt AI found that DeepSeek-R1 had an 11 times higher probability of generating harmful content compared to OpenAI's O1 model, and was more than three times more likely to produce CBRN-related materials compared to Claude-3 Opus.
Reported impact
The system generated dangerous content including guides to criminal planning, information about illegal weapons, extremist propaganda, and a recruitment blog for terrorist organizations in 45 percent of harmful content tests.
Enkrypt AI research revealed that 83 percent of bias tests produced discriminatory results across race, sex, health, and religion. Security research by Wiz found that 78 percent of cybersecurity tests induced DeepSeek-R1 to generate insecure or harmful code, and an exposed DeepSeek database left chat histories and sensitive information publicly accessible online.
Index analysis
The decision to block DeepSeek in Italy was triggered by concerns about user data privacy and the handling of chat histories, as the system appeared to lack adequate safeguards for personal information collected during user interactions.
Security vulnerabilities identified in the system's architecture raised concerns that DeepSeek-R1 could be exploited by cybercriminals, disinformation networks, and potentially actors with biological or chemical weapons ambitions.
Governance controls
The Italian Data Protection Authority requested information from DeepSeek and subsequently removed the application from major app stores to protect Italian users pending investigation.
The EU AI Act and GDPR were cited as regulatory frameworks that DeepSeek must comply with to operate in Europe.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.