DATA PROTECTION | The Italian DPA blocks DeepSeek over GDPR compliance concerns

With a press release dated 30 January 2025, the Italian data protection authority (“Italian DPA”) announced the blocking of DeepSeek, the genAI-powered chatbot service owned by the Chinese companies Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence and Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence.  This action followed a request for information pursuant to the GDPR, which the Italian DPA sent to the companies. In their response, the companies claimed that they were not subject to the GDPR and that they did not operate in the Italian market. However, the Italian DPA affirmed the applicability of the GDPR to DeepSeek, and also noted the ongoing processing of Italian users’ data. Due to the companies’ failure to provide precise information on personal data processing of the Italian users, the Italian DPA imposed a temporary ban on the use of DeepSeek in Italy and launched a formal investigation.

Newsletter n. 104 – February 2025