DeepSeek AI service alleged to have passed on user data from S.Korea to China, US: Watchdog

South Korea on Thursday accused Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) service DeepSeek of transferring Korean user information to several companies in China and the US "without permission," the state data protection watchdog said.

The Personal Information Protection Commission alleged that DeepSeek transferred personal information to three companies in China and one in the US before Feb. 15, when it discontinued its service in South Korea, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News.

The Korean watchdog also found that content users entered into DeepSeek's prompts – to generate responses via the AI service – was shared with a Chinese company.

DeepSeek, which has temporarily suspended operations in South Korea amid a growing controversy over its data practices, published its information policy in Chinese and English. The commission said the policy failed to outline procedures for destroying personal data and lacked details on safety measures.

According to the commission, DeepSeek admitted to transferring user data to a company called Volcano without obtaining user consent. The company said it used Volcano's cloud service to address security vulnerabilities and improve the user interface.

The watchdog added that the Chinese service blocked new transfers beginning April 10 after the commission said the transfer of information entered by users into the DeepSeek prompts was unnecessary.

In response to the allegations, China's Foreign Ministry said the government "places high importance on data privacy and security and strictly upholds legal safeguards in this regard."

"We have never – and will never – require companies or individuals to collect or store data through illegal means," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.

"China consistently opposes the overstretching of national security concepts and the politicization of economic, trade, and technological issues," Guo said, adding that Beijing "will resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises."

* Writing by Aamir Latif