On Thursday, Italy’s data protection authority, known as the Garante, announced its decision to prohibit DeepSeek from operating its chatbot within the country. This action follows the Chinese artificial intelligence startup’s failure to adequately address concerns regarding its privacy policy.
Earlier this week, the Garante had sought clarity from DeepSeek about its personal data usage. The regulator inquired about the types of personal data collected, the sources of this data, the purposes for its collection, the legal basis for processing, and whether the data is stored in China.
The regulator’s directive, aimed at safeguarding Italian users’ data, was issued after the responses provided by the Chinese companies managing the DeepSeek chatbot were deemed “totally insufficient,” according to a statement released by the agency.
DeepSeek has not yet provided any comments regarding the decision.
The Chinese startup claims that its newly launched AI models either match or surpass the leading models in the United States, offering them at a significantly lower cost, which poses a potential disruption to the tech landscape.
DeepSeek’s AI assistant has reportedly surpassed ChatGPT to become the highest-rated free application on Apple’s App Store in the United States.
The Garante emphasized that its order was effective immediately and also revealed that an investigation into DeepSeek had been initiated.
European Oversight
Data protection authorities in both Ireland and France are also scrutinizing DeepSeek regarding the privacy policy of its chatbot.
In response to the Garante’s inquiries, DeepSeek informed that it had removed its AI assistant from Italian app stores. Agostino Ghiglia, a member of the Italian data authority’s board, confirmed this information to Reuters.
Ghiglia noted that DeepSeek contended it should not be subject to local regulations or Garante’s jurisdiction and believed it had no obligation to provide the requested information.
“DeepSeek’s reply did not reassure us; rather, it exacerbated the situation, which prompted our decision to block the service,” Ghiglia stated.
“Without collaboration, DeepSeek will remain prohibited in Italy,” he added.
As of Friday, some Italian users who had previously downloaded the app reported that the chatbot was still functioning on their devices. The web version of the service was also reportedly still live.
“Citizens have the right to make informed decisions based on how their data is handled. Servers located in China do not provide the same protections as those in Europe,” Ghiglia remarked.
Italy’s Garante is recognized as one of the most proactive data protection authorities among the 31 in Europe concerning AI applications. Two years prior, it had temporarily banned the use of Microsoft-backed ChatGPT over possible violations of EU privacy regulations.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
