South Korea Spy Agency Criticizes DeepSeek For Over-Collecting Data

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) accused the Chinese AI company DeepSeek of “excessively” collecting user’s data and urged government agencies to improve security. The institution also revealed that the AI model adapts answers depending on the language used and claimed that kimchi originated in China when asked about the dish’s origins in Chinese.

According to Reuters, the Korean intelligence agency issued a statement on Tuesday warning about the use and risks of the Chinese technology.

“Unlike other generative AI services, it has been confirmed that chat records are transferable as it includes a function to collect keyboard input patterns that can identify individuals and communicate with Chinese companies’ servers such as volceapplog.com,” said the NIS in a public statement.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the NIS stated that DeepSeek offers advertisers and the Chinese government access to user’s personal data with “few constraints.” The agency also pointed out that the information provided by the chatbot is inaccurate and changes depending on the language used during the interaction.

In Korean, the China-based chatbot describes kimchi as “a dish that represents Korean culture and history,” in English that its origin is “related to Korea,” and in Chinese that it’s “from China, not Korea.”

DeepSeek’s AI has been repeatedly accused of censorship, particularly concerning sensitive topics.

Some government ministries have already banned DeepSeek, joining other nations such as Italy, Australia, and Taiwan with restrictive measures.

South Korea, Australia and Taiwan have restricted government employees from using China’s DeepSeek app.

All three countries say it poses a security risk. pic.twitter.com/Pg9lUByhWk

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The United States, Microsft, and OpenAI are currently investigating the Chinese startup for potential restricted use of advanced AI chips and unauthorized data acquisition.