Italy blocks Chinese AI tool DeepSeek over privacy concerns
Italy’s data protection authority on Thursday announced it has banned DeepSeek from operating in the country after the Chinese artificial intelligence company told regulators it does not fall under the purview of European data privacy laws.
Garante, the Italian regulator, said DeepSeek’s statements are contrary to its understanding of the company’s operations. The agency has launched an investigation into the AI firm, it said in a press release.
On Tuesday, Garante announced it had asked DeepSeek to disclose what personal data it collects and for what purpose. It also asked where the data is sourced from, whether it is stored on Chinese servers and what legal basis it has for gathering the data.
DeepSeek’s privacy policy says the company stores user data on servers located in China.
Garante also asked DeepSeek if it scrapes personal data from the web and how it alerts users about its processing of their data.
Italy called the information provided by the companies backing DeepSeek — Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence and Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence — “completely insufficient.”
In 2023, Garante blocked its citizens from using ChatGPT over data privacy problems. That ban is no longer in place.
Scrutiny of DeepSeek appears to be spreading across Europe.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission on Thursday said it queried DeepSeek for answers on its processing of Irish citizens’ data.
On Friday, the Belgian consumer protection advocacy organization Testachats announced the country’s data protection regulator has opened an investigation into DeepSeek following a complaint it filed over the company’s “illegal transfer of data.”
DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Suzanne Smalley
is a reporter covering privacy, disinformation and cybersecurity policy for The Record. She was previously a cybersecurity reporter at CyberScoop and Reuters. Earlier in her career Suzanne covered the Boston Police Department for the Boston Globe and two presidential campaign cycles for Newsweek. She lives in Washington with her husband and three children.