Governments, banks, universities and more.. all take action.
Photo: AJY

New Chinese AI start-up causing privacy concerns across the world.

DEEPSEEK BANNED

Australia has banned DeepSeek AI services from all government systems and devices, becoming one of the first countries to take direct action against a Chinese artificial intelligence start-up that has shaken Silicon Valley.

Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, said in a statement that all DeepSeek products, apps and services would be removed from government systems with immediate effect for national security reasons.

A threat assessment by the country’s intelligence agencies found that the technology posed “an unacceptable risk”.

DeepSeek’s technology, which was founded in Hangzhou 20 months ago, made waves in January with a new mobile app featuring a ‘reasoning AI chatbot’ that it claims “approximates its thought process and research before providing a response” — and that it can be developed without major investments in high-end AI hardware.

The appeal has propelled it to the top of download charts around the world.

However, doubts about the service’s security soon surfaced.

“AI is a technology full of potential and opportunity, but the government will not hesitate to act when our institutions identify a national security risk,” Burke said in his statement.

Avoiding any criticism of Australia’s action against the app because of Chinese origins, he added that the government’s approach was “…country-agnostic and focused on the risk to the government and our assets.”

Australia’s top research universities have also blocked DeepSeek from their networks and devices, or are considering a ban, or have ‘strongly encouraged’ staff to avoid using the app due to data security concerns.

The Group of Eight — seen as Australia’s Ivy League — has banned the use of the technology, citing the need to “protect sensitive research and data”.

The Chinese government has slammed Australia for banning the app, with a statement issued from the foreign ministry describing the ban as the ‘politicisation of economic, trade and technological issues’.

Australia is not the first country to act against DeepSeek.

Italy’s privacy regulator has ordered it to be blocked to protect consumer data, and Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has asked the company for more information. Hundreds of private companies have also taken steps to block access to DeepSeek, it was reported last week.

Why are U.S. tech investors so worried about DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence company whose new chatbot is now among the most-downloaded free apps in the U.S?

Could it be, like other apps and devices that come from China, there is a hidden back door at play here?

PRIVACY CONCERNS

Despite its meteoric rise in popularity, experts warn that DeepSeek’s privacy credentials range from: leaving a lot to be desired, to outright dangerous. Even the best VPNs will struggle to protect you.

The China-based AI tool exploded onto the scene in January, sending the U.S stock market into disarray and threatening to upset the AI status quo.

But this was all short-lived, as on 27 January 2025, DeepSeek suffered a large-scale cyberattack and, soon after, its privacy failings were uncovered.

Analysis of DeepSeek’s privacy policy detailed excessive amounts of personal data collection, a large number of which is also shared with third-parties and advertisers.

Personal information collected includes name, email address, date of birth, and telephone numbers. The technical information collected includes IP address, device model, payment information, cookies, and all inputs and outputs.

User and device IDs are given, enabling you to be tracked across multiple devices and even keystrokes are logged. DeepSeek doesn’t give a time frame for how long this information is stored, saying it’s kept for “as long as necessary.”

Its policy states users “…may have certain rights with respect to your personal information”, but this varies by location. You “may” also have the right to delete your data, but there is no detail on how much data.

Michael Wooldridge, an AI professor at the University of Oxford, advised users against entering sensitive data into the chatbot if they choose to continue to use it.

“I think it’s fine to download it and ask about the performance of Liverpool football club or chat about the history of the Roman empire,” he told reporters.

“But would I recommend putting anything sensitive, personal, or private on them? Absolutely not… Because you don’t know where the data goes.”

I think that’s a good philosophy to have when it comes to anything online, to be honest.

Like TikTok, Chinese-made cameras, and basically everything else we have covered out of China here on the website, there will always be the risk of spying and government monitoring with them.

More importantly, this new chatbot ‘conveniently’ forgets key historical facts that may be critical of the Chinese government, which makes it an automatic red flag in my book.

The ‘reasoning’ side of it is pretty crazy to see though, I will admit.

The race to control the world’s most powerful technology is heating up, ladies and gentlemen.

Who will come out on top in the end?