South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has raised concerns about the Chinese AI app DeepSeek, citing excessive collection of personal data.

The agency wans that the app records user chat inputs in an identifiable manner and communicates with servers in China, including volceapplog.com.

The agency claims the app allows advertisers unrestricted access to user data and stores South Korean information on Chinese servers, making it vulnerable to government access under Chinese law.

Several South Korean government ministries have already blocked access to the app, following similar actions by Australia and Taiwan.

The NIS also flagged DeepSeek for providing inconsistent answers based on language. It identifies kimchi as Korean in Korean-language queries but attributes its origin to China in Chinese-language responses.

The app reportedly avoids politically sensitive topics, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, by suggesting users change the subject.

DeepSeek did not respond to requests for comment.

Recent DeepSeek developments