Italian Data regulator orders AI start-up DeepSeek to stop processing users’ data, opens probe after receiving ‘insufficient’ answers

Italy’s data protection regulator has opened a probe into AI start-up DeepSeek, also ordering it to stop processing Italian users’ data and asking the government to block the app in the country.

The agency, known as the Garante, said it had received “completely insufficient” answers to questions asked of the start-up last week.

The Garante said it had ordered Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence and Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence to stop Italian users’ data immediately.

“The limitation measure – adopted to protect the data of Italian users – follows the communication from the companies received today, the content of which was deemed completely insufficient,” the agency said.

‘Completely insufficient’

“Contrary to what the authority found, the companies declared that they do not operate in Italy and that European legislation does not apply to them.”

DeepSeek is based in Hangzhou, in eastern China, which is also the headquarters of tech giant Alibaba.

The DeepSeek app was no longer available in the Google and Apple mobile app stores, but remained available on app stores in other EU countries and the UK.

The authority said last Tuesday that it had asked DeepSeek how personal data was collected, from which sources and for what purposes, and where the data was stored.

It also asked what data was used to train DeepSeek’s AI models and, if personal data was scraped from the internet, how the people to whom that data pertains are informed about the processing of their data.

Ireland’s data regulator said it had sent similar questions to the start-up, while South Korea said it was also querying the start-up on its data use.

Data protection authorities in the Netherlands said separately on Friday that they were launching an investigation into DeepSeek’s privacy practices, saying it had “serious concerns”.

“The AP is (issuing this) warning because of the serious concerns that there are over DeepSeek’s privacy policies… and the way in which it appears to use personal information,” said Aleid Wolfsen, chairman of the Dutch AP agency, in a statement.

The start-up said its AI chatbot performed similarly or better than those from OpenAI, Anthropic and others, but was developed for a fraction of the cost, sending world markets into a $1 trillion (£810bn) rout.

Italy’s Garante has been one of the EU’s most active regulators in policing AI models, in December fining OpenAI 15m euros (£12.6m) over the use of Italian users’ personal data, a fine the Silicon Valley firm said it would appeal.

The Garante temporarily banned OpenAI in Italy in March 2023 at the beginning of its investigation.