Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 30, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
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Italy's data authority blocked the Chinese AI app DeepSeek due to insufficient data privacy information, affecting its availability in app stores.
MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's data protection authority said on Thursday it had blocked Chinese artificial intelligence model DeepSeek over a lack of information on its use of personal data.
DeepSeek could not be accessed on Wednesday in Apple or Google app stores in Italy, the day after the authority, known also as the Garante, requested information on its use of personal data.
In particular, it wanted to know what personal data is collected, from which sources, for what purposes, on what legal basis and whether it is stored in China.
The authority's decision - aimed at protecting Italian users' data - came after the Chinese companies that supply chatbot service to DeepSeek provided information that "was considered to totally insufficient," the authority said in a note on its website.
The Garante added that the decision had "immediate effect" and that it had also opened an investigation.
DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
The Chinese model last week launched a free AI assistant that it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent services. The assistant earlier this week had overtaken U.S. rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple's app store, sparking panic among tech stock investors.
(Reporting by Sara Rossi; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Sandra Maler and Deepa Babington)
The main topic is Italy's data protection authority blocking the Chinese AI app DeepSeek over data privacy concerns.
DeepSeek was blocked due to insufficient information on its data collection and usage practices.
The Garante blocked DeepSeek and opened an investigation into its data practices.
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