German Data Protection Authority Asks Apple and Google to Stop Distributing DeepSeek App

A German data protection authority regulator said Friday (June 27) that she told Apple and Google that the DeepSeek artificial intelligence-powered chatbot app is “illegal content” and that the companies must now decide whether to block the app from their app stores.

Meike Kamp, the Berlin Data Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, said she did so because the app illegally transfers users’ personal data to China, according to a Friday press release translated by Google.

Kamp contacted Apple and Google after DeepSeek failed to comply with the commissioner’s request to either remove its app from German app stores, stop illegally transferring data to China, or meet the legal requirements for lawful third-country transfers, according to the release.

DeepSeek did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

DeepSeek’s service is subject to the provisions of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) because it is offered to users in Germany and can be used in German, the release said.

GDPR requires that Europe’s data protection standards be maintained when personal data is transferred to other countries, and that China has not received the required approvals from the European Union that allow that transfer, according to the release.

DeepSeek collects all text entries, chat histories, uploaded files, and information about locations, devices and networks; transmits that data to Chinese processors; and stores it on Chinese servers, the release said.

“I have therefore informed Google and Apple, as operators of the largest app platforms, of the violations and expect a timely consideration of a blocking,” Kamp said in the release, per the Google translation.

DeepSeek also faces a challenge in the United States.

In April, the House Select Committee on China recommended that the U.S. government address risk from Chinese AI models after finding that DeepSeek presents a threat to U.S. security.

The committee recommended that the government expand export controls, improve the enforcement of export controls, and “prevent and prepare for strategic surprise related to advanced AI.”

“This report makes it clear: DeepSeek isn’t just another AI app — it’s a weapon in the Chinese Communist Party’s arsenal, designed to spy on Americans,” Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, the chairman of the committee, said at the time in a press release.

It was reported in March that the U.S. Department of Commerce banned the use of DeepSeek’s AI model on government-furnished equipment, citing concerns about the Chinese company gaining access to sensitive information.

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