DeepSeek AI Tool Allegedly Shares User Data with Chinese Company ByteDance

• South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission alleged DeepSeek shares data with TikTok’s parent company.
• The AI tool seems to have transferred user information to ByteDance servers without consent.
• The Commission confirmed that the Chinese app sends user data to ByteDance during every session.

DeepSeek reportedly transferred user data to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, without proper disclosure or consent. According to South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), the app automatically transmitted user data to ByteDance servers each time it was accessed.

While the commission confirmed that DeepSeek communicates with ByteDance, a PIPC official told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that it is “yet to confirm what data was transferred and to what extent.”

What's more, recent discoveries highlighted severe security and privacy vulnerabilities in the DeepSeek iOS app, which transmits sensitive user data over the internet without encryption, leaving it vulnerable to interception and manipulation by attackers, such as in Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks. 

The discovery has led to swift action, including removing DeepSeek from app stores and warning users against sharing personal information via the app. DeepSeek acknowledged that its failure to fully account for domestic data protection laws during its global rollout was an oversight.

The incident adds another layer to the controversies surrounding ByteDance, which has faced significant global scrutiny for its data protection practices. Past accusations against TikTok and ByteDance include mishandling user data, charges of misusing children’s data, and being labeled a “national security risk”. 

Although TikTok narrowly avoided a U.S. ban earlier this year after a presidential order delayed enforcement, privacy concerns surrounding TikTok and its parent company remain heated topics on the international stage.

Nations such as Italy and Australia have begun to crack down on AI-driven platforms over similar issues, setting a precedent that may push others to follow suit.