After the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) 'DeepSeek Shock,' government departments, including the Ministry of Interior and Safety, are cautioning against the use of AI. This is due to concerns that personal information or sensitive data could be leaked overseas.
According to officials from government departments on the 5th, the Ministry of Interior and Safety sent a notice to central government agencies and 17 metropolitan municipalities the day before, urging caution regarding the use of artificial intelligence. However, it did not mention specific corporations like DeepSeek in the official document. An official from the Ministry of Interior and Safety noted, "The intent is to advise caution when inputting internal information and personal data into (artificial intelligence)."
In response, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of National Defense blocked access to DeepSeek from computers. An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "The Personal Information Protection Commission determined that it is unclear how personal information inputted into DeepSeek is handled and transferred to third parties," and added, "To protect staff, access to DeepSeek has been temporarily blocked."
Earlier, the Personal Information Protection Commission sent an inquiry to DeepSeek's headquarters asking for clarification on the items collected, procedures, processing, and storage methods regarding personal information, but it has yet to receive a response. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to allow access to DeepSeek once security is confirmed. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and KEPCO KPS, which handle nuclear power technology, also recently prohibited the use of DeepSeek. KHNP had previously advised against using ChatGPT for work-related purposes due to security concerns.
Looking at overseas cases, countries such as Australia, Japan, and Taiwan have prohibited the use of DeepSeek on government-owned devices. The United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) are also monitoring whether the security of DeepSeek is inadequate. Italy has entirely blocked DeepSeek from app stores.
Among domestic corporations, Kakao has banned the use of DeepSeek. This concern arises from the potential for DeepSeek to collect user device information, intellectual property (IP), keyboard input patterns, and more. Additionally, it is analyzed that Kakao's recent partnership with OpenAI has influenced this decision.
On the same day, LG Uplus also instructed employees not to use DeepSeek for work purposes within the company. It also recommended that, until the security of DeepSeek is thoroughly confirmed, employees refrain from using DeepSeek on personal computers. Samsung and SK have stipulated that unauthorized external programs cannot be used on company computers.
Earlier, the Chinese startup DeepSeek shocked the world by introducing low-cost high-performance artificial intelligence. While DeepSeek received praise for providing tidy responses to various questions, criticisms have emerged regarding its excessive collection of user information during the learning process.