About a week after its release, Italy has become the first country to officially request an investigation into how the Deepseek chatbot manages the personal data of users.
“Possible risk for data from millions of people in Italy,” the Italian Data Watchdog Authority wrote, known as the Guarantor, on Tuesday January 28, 2025, in an official announcement.
Developed by a little -known Chinese startup, Deepseek has experienced nearly 3 million downloads since its launch, reaching a total user base estimated between 5 and 6 million users worldwide, according to SEO.AI data. However, experts in Europe and outside Europe have warned of the potential implications of confidentiality.
Companies that provide the Chinese Chatgpt – Hangzhou Deepseek Artificial Intelligence and Beijing Deepseek Artificial Intelligence – 20 days to respond to the complaint of Italy.
Against the RGPD rules
The guarantor complaint follows a report submitted by the Euroconsumers – a coalition of five national consumer organizations which also include its Italian member, Altrocunsumo.
After examining how the Deepseek application and chat services collect and manage user data in accordance with its own privacy policy, Euroconusmers have noted “multiple violations of European and national data protection regulations”, indicates the report .
These include European data transfers to China without guarantees, as required by RGPD rules, unclear information on how user data is used for online profiling, non -transparent information on Data retention periods and lack of details on age verification or minor data management, among other things.
The Guarantor also requests companies behind Deepseek IA to provide the clarifications necessary for services to operate legally in the country.
The Italian data guard dog is looking for more information on the type of data used to form the artificial intelligence system. If personal data is collected through web scratch activities, Deepseek should also clarify “how registered users and those who are not registered in the service have been or are informed of the processing of their data”, wrote the Guarantor .
“The technological efficiency, as important, cannot prevail over the fundamental rights of people. It is essential to ensure that the development of AI occurs in full compliance with European regulations, which represents a pillar in the Protection of fundamental values and rights “, Marco Scialdone, head of disputes at Euroconsumers, told Eurofocus, commenting on the complaint.
This is not the first time that Italy has called violations of the confidentiality of AI chatbots.
In April 2023, the guarantor temporarily prohibited the use of chatgpt across the country while the AI mammoth was deemed responsible for the collection and storage of Italian data badly And, therefore, violate the rules of the GDPR. At that time, the prohibition of chatgpt caused an increase in VPN downloads while the Italians were looking for ways to keep access to the popular IA chatbot.
It is too early to say if Deepseek will share the same fate, but we nevertheless advise you to approach the novelty of AI with caution if you care about your online private life.
