Europe's Regulatory Eye on DeepSeek: Privacy Concerns Loom

Europe's privacy regulators are scrutinizing DeepSeek, a rapidly growing Chinese AI startup, highlighting concerns over its data privacy practices. The European Data Protection Board is expanding a taskforce to address these issues, following Italy's blockade and ongoing investigations in other EU nations.

The rising fame of DeepSeek, an affordable Chinese artificial intelligence startup, might face additional scrutiny from national regulators, according to Europe's privacy watchdog's statement on Tuesday. This highlights the European Union's concerns over its data privacy practices.

In a monthly meeting, national privacy regulators raised discussions about DeepSeek after Italy halted the chatbot due to insufficient information concerning its personal data usage. Meanwhile, authorities in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and other countries are actively questioning DeepSeek about its data collection methods. A spokesperson from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) confirmed post-meeting that several data protection authorities have already initiated actions against DeepSeek, with more potential actions anticipated.

The increasing concerns have led the EDPB to expand the mission of a taskforce established in April 2023, intended to enhance cooperation and share enforcement-related information concerning AI. Originally focused on Microsoft-supported OpenAI's ChatGPT, this taskforce will now also address DeepSeek's practices. Additionally, the EDPB emphasizes the need for coordinated actions among data protection authorities on urgent matters, with plans to implement a rapid response team. Europe remains at the forefront of safeguarding citizens' privacy rights, with its 2018 General Data Protection Regulation recognized as the world's most stringent privacy law.