DeepSeek AI banned in Italy as data privacy concerns pile up

Italy has become the first country to ban DeepSeek AI, with authorities citing data privacy and ethical concerns.

The move follows an investigation launched into DeepSeek's compliance with European GDPR rules and global concerns about its safety.

Currently the best VPNs can unblock DeepSeek for use in Italy. However, that is not advised. We answered the question "is DeepSeek safe to use" and can comfortably say the Chinese-based AI tool should be avoided due to its worrying data privacy practices.

Italy moves first

It appears as though Italy is the first country to ban DeepSeek and said the move was "adopted to protect the data of Italian users."

The limitation of the processing of data of Italian users has been ordered "with immediate effect."

On Tuesday 28 January 2025, Italy launched an investigation into DeepSeek's personal data collection and how it complies with GDPR legislation. It looked to examine what data was being collected, for what purpose, where it's being stored, and if it has been used to train DeepSeek's AI model.

Italy gave DeepSeek 20 days to respond, but the Chinese AI company claimed its tool did not fall under the jurisdiction of EU law.

In a press release published on Thursday 30 January 2025, the Italian Data Protection Authority said this claim was "contrary to what the Authority found" and took steps to immediately block the app.

The AI chatbot is currently not available on Apple and Google app stores in Italy and DeepSeek has not yet publicly responded to its banning. However, Politico reported that DeepSeek had told Italian authorities it wouldn't cooperate with a request for information made by the agency.

Earlier this week, the Irish Data Protection Commission also contacted DeepSeek, requesting details related to the data of Irish citizens and reports indicate Belgium has also begun investigating DeepSeek – with more countries expected to follow.

Don't use a VPN to access DeepSeek

Whilst it does appear possible for DeepSeek to be accessed in Italy by using a VPN, we would strongly advise against this.

DeepSeek stormed to the top of app stores last week, causing an earthquake in the world of AI and even led to the stocks of Nvidia and Google plummeting. But it was soon hit by a large-scale cyberattack and its 15 minutes of fame began to come crashing down.

Countless organisations and experts have raised severe concerns over DeepSeek's data privacy practices and Tom's Guide has analyzed its privacy policy.

The app collects an enormous amount of invasive user data including IP addresses, cookies, personal information, and chatbot inputs and outputs.

The collection of keystrokes and other technical information is concerning and user and device IDs are being assigned which enable tracking across multiple devices.

The policy says this information may be shared with advertisers and third-parties and would be held "as long as necessary."

Further investigation revealed your rights over this data are unclear to say the least, with DeepSeek saying users "may have certain rights with respect to your personal information" and it does not specify what data you do or don't have control over.

DeepSeek's terms of service state it "shall be governed by the laws of the People's Republic of China in the mainland." This, and the fact the data is stored on servers based in China, opens up national security risks – ones similar to those at the heart of the US TikTok ban.

China has some of the world's strictest VPN laws and the government maintains tight control over the internet in the country. This is no different with DeepSeek, as users reported answers to questions about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan being censored.

A sea of red flags

DeepSeek's popularity and reputation seems to have plummeted as quickly as it rose and its red flags are increasing all the time. It isn't just data privacy concerns that have been raised, its cybersecurity protocols have been questioned as well.

Cybersecurity firm KELA reported it was able to "jailbreak" the app, causing it to produce malicious outputs.

The Italian authorities have joined numerous experts and organisations in taking steps against DeepSeek and it is very clear that if you value your data privacy, then this AI tool is to be avoided.