Germany urges Apple and Google to remove DeepSeek from app stores over EU privacy concerns

Berlin’s data protection commissioner, Meike Kamp, has officially reported the Chinese AI app DeepSeek to Apple and Google. She has asked both companies to consider removing the app from their German app stores, citing alleged violations of European Union data protection regulations. The complaint charges that DeepSeek transfers user data to China without adequate safeguards and has failed to produce evidence that it protects personal data according to EU legal standards.

Kamp emphasized that Chinese authorities possess extensive rights to access data held by companies based in China, which heightens privacy concerns. Following these findings, Kamp’s office requested that DeepSeek comply with EU cross-border data transfer regulations or withdraw from the German market. The company did not fulfill either request. According to DeepSeek’s own privacy policy, all collected user data is stored within China, thereby exposing it to potential governmental access.

Other European regulators have acted as well, with Italy having previously banned DeepSeek from its app stores over similar privacy concerns earlier this year. While data privacy advocates in the EU have repeatedly raised alarms about software developed and operated from China, the decision regarding DeepSeek’s availability now rests with Apple and Google, who have yet to respond to the German commissioner's report.