South Korea's National Intelligence Service reports DeepSeek collects excessive user data
South Korea's National Intelligence Service reported that the Chinese AI system DeepSeek collects excessive personal user data, stores it on Chinese servers, and can be accessed by the Chinese government. The agency issued formal alerts to government agencies, and multiple South Korean departments and the military restricted access to the system.
What happened
South Korea's National Intelligence Service alleged that the Chinese AI model DeepSeek collects excessive personal data from users and uses all input data for its own training. The agency reported that DeepSeek chat records are transferable because it has functionality to collect keystroke input patterns that can identify individuals and connects with servers of Chinese companies including volceapplog.com. The agency stated that unlike other generative AI services, DeepSeek provides advertisers with unlimited access to user data and stores South Korean user data on Chinese servers.
Reported impact
Several South Korean government departments blocked access to DeepSeek citing security concerns, joining Australia and Taiwan in restricting or warning about the application. South Korea's military also banned its use.
Index analysis
The National Intelligence Service noted that DeepSeek provides different responses to potentially sensitive questions in different languages. The agency warned that under Chinese law, the Beijing government can access such information upon request.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.