Germany’s data protection commissioner has asked Apple and Google to remove Chinese AI firm DeepSeek from their app stores due to concerns about data privacy.
The commissioner said DeepSeek transfers users’ personal data to China and has not proven that the data is protected at a level equal to European Union standards.
The request follows a similar move in Italy, where DeepSeek was blocked earlier this year, and actions in other EU countries. The Netherlands banned the app on government devices, and Belgium has advised officials not to use it.
Spain’s consumer group OCU asked for an investigation, but no formal action has been taken yet.
The German authority said it contacted DeepSeek in May and asked it to meet EU data transfer rules or voluntarily pull its app. DeepSeek did not comply.
In response, the commissioner asked Apple and Google to review the app’s presence in their German stores. No deadline was given.
DeepSeek’s privacy policy shows it stores user queries and uploaded files in China. The commissioner said this exposes users to Chinese laws, which allow government access to data held by local firms.
The company made headlines in January when it claimed its AI could compete with models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT at a lower cost. But since then, regulators in the U.S. and Europe have raised concerns over how it handles personal information.
In the U.S., lawmakers are preparing a bill that would ban federal agencies from using AI tools developed in China.
