Europe’s privacy watchdog, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), has indicated that the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek may face additional regulatory actions in the future. This statement comes after national privacy regulators in several European countries raised concerns over DeepSeek’s practices regarding personal data usage.
The EDPB’s announcement followed discussions among national data protection authorities (DPAs) at a monthly meeting on Tuesday. The regulators had already taken steps in Italy, where DeepSeek’s chatbot was blocked due to insufficient transparency regarding its use of personal data. In addition, enforcers in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and other nations have questioned DeepSeek about its data collection methods.
“Several DPAs have already started actions vis-a-vis DeepSeek, and there may be further actions in the future,” an EDPB spokesperson confirmed. As a result of these concerns, the EDPB expanded its taskforce, initially focused on Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to include DeepSeek. The taskforce was created in April 2023 to promote cooperation and information sharing on AI enforcement actions.
The regulators also emphasized the need for a coordinated response to sensitive matters and have decided to form a quick response team to address urgent issues. Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect in 2018, remains one of the strictest privacy laws globally, and the region continues to lead efforts in protecting citizens’ privacy rights.