Germany has now joined the growing list of countries moving against the Chinese AI app DeepSeek, raising alarms about how the company handles personal data and where that information actually ends up. Several countries have already pulled back from the app, largely because of privacy risks tied to China’s control over the data.
DeepSeek became popular fast, spreading worldwide earlier this year. But as more people used it, questions followed. It quickly became clear that the system avoids topics that might reflect poorly on China. What raised deeper concerns was the discovery that DeepSeek stores user data, including personal files and conversations, on servers inside China. Under local intelligence laws, Chinese authorities have wide access to that information.
This setup has triggered global pushback. Italy acted early, pulling the app from local stores. South Korea took similar action. In the Netherlands, DeepSeek was banned from government devices, and Belgium advised public employees to avoid the app. Spain’s largest consumer rights group also called for an investigation into how DeepSeek collects and stores data.
In the United States, the reaction has been even stronger. Some lawmakers are working on rules that would block federal agencies from using AI made in China. One senator even floated the idea of jail time for anyone who knowingly keeps using such apps.
Germany’s privacy regulator stepped in this week, asking Apple and Google to remove DeepSeek from their app stores. The regulator said the company failed to show that user data is protected to the standards required in the European Union. German officials had already given DeepSeek the chance to meet EU privacy rules or withdraw the app. The company didn’t make the changes.
It’s worth mentioning that DeepSeek’s open-source models can often be adjusted locally, but the app and its website don’t work the same way. Both are hosted versions fully controlled by the company, with little visibility into how user data is handled.
Google said it’s currently reviewing the request from German authorities. Apple hasn’t responded yet.
Image: Unsplash / Solen Feyissa
Read next: AI Experts Abandon ‘Prompt Engineering’ in Favor of Broader, Smarter ‘Context Engineering’ Approach
DeepSeek became popular fast, spreading worldwide earlier this year. But as more people used it, questions followed. It quickly became clear that the system avoids topics that might reflect poorly on China. What raised deeper concerns was the discovery that DeepSeek stores user data, including personal files and conversations, on servers inside China. Under local intelligence laws, Chinese authorities have wide access to that information.
This setup has triggered global pushback. Italy acted early, pulling the app from local stores. South Korea took similar action. In the Netherlands, DeepSeek was banned from government devices, and Belgium advised public employees to avoid the app. Spain’s largest consumer rights group also called for an investigation into how DeepSeek collects and stores data.
In the United States, the reaction has been even stronger. Some lawmakers are working on rules that would block federal agencies from using AI made in China. One senator even floated the idea of jail time for anyone who knowingly keeps using such apps.
Germany’s privacy regulator stepped in this week, asking Apple and Google to remove DeepSeek from their app stores. The regulator said the company failed to show that user data is protected to the standards required in the European Union. German officials had already given DeepSeek the chance to meet EU privacy rules or withdraw the app. The company didn’t make the changes.
It’s worth mentioning that DeepSeek’s open-source models can often be adjusted locally, but the app and its website don’t work the same way. Both are hosted versions fully controlled by the company, with little visibility into how user data is handled.
Google said it’s currently reviewing the request from German authorities. Apple hasn’t responded yet.
Image: Unsplash / Solen Feyissa
Read next: AI Experts Abandon ‘Prompt Engineering’ in Favor of Broader, Smarter ‘Context Engineering’ Approach
