Why DeepSeek Disappeared From App Stores in Italy ?

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For a few days now, the Chinese artificial intelligence DeepSeek has been making waves. As a reminder, the developer of this application has managed to create a model that rivals ChatGPT, but using limited resources. This technological breakthrough has shaken the American stock market, while OpenAI is investigating a possible unauthorized use of its artificial intelligence models to “distill” DeepSeek. In addition, we learned via an article from CNBC that the DeepSeek application is no longer accessible on the iOS and Android app stores.

The Italian data protection authority is already looking into DeepSeek

The Italian version of the App Store reportedly states that DeepSeek is currently unavailable in the country, while the Google Play Store states that it is not supported. The exact reasons that prompted Apple and Google to take action are not yet known, but it is likely related to a complaint filed by Euroconsumers, a coalition of consumer groups, to the Italian data protection authority. The latter announced in a statement that it has sent a request for information to the companies that offer DeepSeek.

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“The Authority, considering the possible high risk to the data of millions of people in Italy, has asked the two companies and their subsidiaries to confirm what personal data were collected, from what sources, for what purposes, what was the legal basis for the processing and whether they were stored on servers located in China”, we can also read in this press release. And DeepSeek has 20 days to respond to these questions.

Brussels is not saying anything, for the moment

For its part, the European Commission does not yet seem alarmed. According to TechCrunch, during a press briefing on January 28, Thomas Regnier, the Commission’s spokesperson for technological sovereignty, simply said: “Services offered in Europe will respect our rules.”

He also indicated that at this stage, there is no talk of an investigation yet. However, he also assured that the EU framework is robust enough to address potential problems.

• The DeepSeek app is no longer available on Android and iOS stores in Italy
• This may be related to a complaint filed with the Italian data protection authority, and the request for information that the authority sent to DeepSeek
• At the European Commission level, there is no talk of an investigation yet

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