ICO seeks answers from DeepSeek as privacy fears grow

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has finally joined the list of regulators investigating the controversial Chinese AI developer DeepSeek, amid growing and widespread concerns over the company’s data privacy practices.

Last month’s launch of the start-up’s R1 tool not only piqued the marketing industry’s interest, it also wiped billions of dollars from US tech stocks and sent shockwaves across international data protection authorities.

While marketers have looked to the tech for a low-cost alternative to ChatGPT, Italy’s regulator has already banned the app outright, while Taiwan, Australia and South Korea have banned it from all government devices, with the latter even accusing DeepSeek of sharing user data with ByteDance, the China-based parent firm of TikTok.

Data protection authorities in France, Germany and Ireland have also quizzed DeepSeek on how it handles citizens’ personal information – including whether it is stored on servers in China, as its privacy policy suggests.

Now the ICO has waded in, with an investigation into how the company collects and processes data from UK users.

And, while there is no official word on the regulator’s website, an ICO has spokesperson has confirmed to the MLex news site that it has “written to DeepSeek, requesting information on its approach to data protection for UK residents”.

The spokesperson added that the regulator continues to “actively monitor the data processing activities of major generative AI model developers, including DeepSeek, to ensure the information rights of UK users are protected”, and that where organisations “fail to meet their data protection obligations, we will not shy away from taking action”.

Cybersecurity experts have urged the public and businesses to exercise caution before using the AI chatbot.

Last week, the UK Government said it was a “personal choice” for the public over whether they used the app, but said it kept new technologies under constant review as they evolve.