IP Law Daily, AI NEWS: Germany, South Korea initiate privacy investigations into DeepSeek, (Feb 19, 2025)

By Tony Foley, TR Daily

The move coincides with an investigation into the Chinese startup launched by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Data protection authorities (DPAs) in South Korea and Germany have taken steps to evaluate the data processing conducted by generative artificial intelligence app provider DeepSeek to determine whether it complies with privacy and data protection laws. Late last month DeepSeek released an inexpensive large language Model, or LLM, that shocked world markets. The Italian data protection regulator, the Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data, also has requested DeepSeek provide information regarding data handling practices. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is the first regulator in the U.S. to launch an investigation into the Chinese firm. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the National Security Council is leading a national security assessment of DeepSeek’s AI technology.

South Korea. According to a news release issued Monday, an investigation conducted by the South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) identified shortcomings in DeepSeek’s communications functions and personal information processing activities. The PIPC suspended DeepSeek’s processing activities effective on Feb. 15, and the ban will remain in effect until DeepSeek makes improvements to ensure that its app meets the requirements of the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). DeepSeek designated a domestic agent last week and expressed its intention to cooperate with the PIPC’s investigation.

The PIPC said it would closely inspect the personal information processing status of DeepSeek’s service during the suspension to improve compliance and alleviate concerns of citizens regarding protection of their personal information. Noting that an on-site inspection of AI services offered by OpenAI and Google LLC last year took nearly six months to complete, the PIPC added that the current inspection would be limited to DeepSeek and thus could be completed more quickly.

Germany. On Friday, several German state DPAs announced that they had initiated coordinated investigations of DeepSeek aiming to clarify whether the Chinese companies behind DeepSeek had appointed a representative in the European Union.

The announcement, from the Baden-Württemberg DPA, specifies that DPAs from Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Hesse, Bremen, and Berlin are involved in the investigation, and that the authorities will coordinate their approach at the national and European level.

The DPAs noted that, under article 27(1) of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a controller offering services to data subjects in the EU but not established in the bloc must appoint a representative within the EU. The representative is commissioned by the controller to serve as a contact point, particularly for supervisory authorities and data subjects, for all questions relating to data processing.

In addition to outlining the investigations, the announcement provides a link to recommendations from Baden-Württemberg DPA on the use of AI applications from providers outside the EU that have not appointed a legal representative in the EU.

Texas. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R.) on February 14 launched an investigation into DeepSeek regarding the privacy practices of its AI platform and its claim that that its AI model rivals the most advanced AI models in the world.

“DeepSeek’s platform apparently violates the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act,” AG Paxton said Friday in a news release. As part of the investigation, the AG’s office sent third-party civil investigative demands (CIDs) to Google LLC and Apple, Inc., requesting their analysis of the DeepSeek app, as well as the documentation DeepSeek was required to submit to them before they made the app available in their app stores.

AG Paxton banned the use of the DeepSeek app on all of the devices used by his office last month over concerns about security and what he called the company’s “blatant allegiance” to the Chinese Communist Party. “DeepSeek appears to be no more than a proxy for the CCP to undermine American AI dominance and steal the data of our citizens,” he said. “That’s why I’m announcing a thorough investigation and calling on Google and Apple to cooperate immediately by providing all relevant documents related to the DeepSeek app.”

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