A popular artificial intelligence app is now at the center of a growing privacy storm in Germany.
On Friday, Berlin’s data protection authorities accused DeepSeek, a China-based AI company, of unlawfully transmitting personal user information from German citizens back to China.
The Berlin commissioner, Meike Kamp, laid out the concerns bluntly after attempts to seek reassurance from DeepSeek failed. She stated, “DeepSeek has not been able to convincingly demonstrate to my authority that the data of German users is protected in China at a level equivalent to that of the European Union.” Her office highlighted that Chinese law gives government authorities significant access to data managed by Chinese companies.
Data transfers from Europe to countries outside the region have long faced strict limitations under the General Data Protection Regulation. Those rules insist that companies can only move European user information abroad if the receiving country upholds privacy protections at the same high standard.
Possible Ripple Effects Across Europe
In the wake of its findings, Berlin’s watchdog has officially reached out to Google and Apple. The authority is pushing both tech giants to urgently review DeepSeek’s AI app and consider banning its distribution from their digital stores.
What happens next is far from certain. Apple and Google have not yet responded publicly to the request. For users and privacy advocates in Germany, however, the stakes are plain.
Experts suggest that if German regulators press ahead and the app disappears from the Google and Apple platforms, the consequences for DeepSeek could be stark. Matt Holman, an AI and privacy attorney at Cripps, noted that “Access to German citizens’ data will be curtailed. In short order this could expand to the remainder of the EU if other national regulators follow suit.”
Removing DeepSeek’s chatbot from these stores in Germany would effectively block access not just in the country but across the European Union if other regulators back the decision.
The German investigation comes as European scrutiny of DeepSeek’s global expansion has been mounting for months. Earlier this year, Italian regulators demanded DeepSeek block its app inside Italy. Irish officials have also opened lines of inquiry into the company’s use of personal data.
With the latest action from Berlin, the panel of European regulators assessing DeepSeek’s practices may need to reach a consensus if a blanket ban is on the table for the entire region.
