South Korea’s data protection authority has said that DeepSeek, which is based in China, transferred user data and queries to Beijing Volcano Engine Technology Co. Ltd. without permission.
In February, South Korea’s data protection agency suspended new downloads of the DeepSeek app.
The agency also said that DeepSeek had transferred the content entered by users in AI queries, along with device, network, and app information, to Beijing Volcano Engine Technology Co. Ltd.
DeepSeek told the agency that it decided to transfer the information to improve the user experience and blocked the transfer of AI query content from April 10, 2025.
