DeepSeek blocked from some app stores in Italy amid questions on data use
DeepSeek blocked from some app stores in Italy amid questions on data use
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Italian and Irish regulators want answers on how data harvested by chatbot could be used by Chinese government. The Chinese AI platform DeepSeek has become unavailable for download from some app stores in Italy as regulators in Rome and in Ireland demanded answers from the company about its handling of citizens’ data.
Amid growing concern on Wednesday about how data harvested by the new chatbot could be used by the Chinese government, the app disappeared from the Apple and Google app stores in Italy with customers seeing messages that said it was “currently not available in the country or area you are in” for Apple and the download “was not supported” for Google, Reuters reported.
The Guardian confirmed it was not available in the Google app store, but it was available in the Apple store for at least one user. Both Google and Apple have been approached for comment. After the Chinese chatbot was released last week close to $1tn (£804m) was wiped off the leading US tech stock index. The UK government said on Tuesday it was up to citizens if they wanted to use the app, with officials in London monitoring any national security threat to data from the new AI platform and saying they would not hesitate to take action if threats emerged.
The Italian regulator for the protection of personal data, known as the Garante, said it wanted to know what personal data is collected, from which sources, for what purposes, on what legal basis and whether it is stored in China. It gave DeepSeek and its affiliated companies 20 days to respond to its questions.
