South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) accused Chinese AI firm DeepSeek of sharing user data with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

The PIPC cited evidence of communication between the two companies but has not identified the specific data transferred.

DeepSeek was removed from Apple and Google’s app stores in South Korea due to security concerns, though it remains accessible via web browsers.

The commission criticized DeepSeek for its lack of transparency and failure to comply with South Korean privacy laws, warning users against entering personal information into the app.

Cybersecurity firm Security Scorecard alleged a direct integration between DeepSeek and ByteDance, suggesting user behavior data and device metadata may have been transmitted to ByteDance servers linked to Chinese state entities.

The PIPC confirmed that DeepSeek is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

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