LOC20:39
17:39 GMT
TOKYO, Feb 5 (KUNA) -- South Korea's foreign, trade and defense ministries blocked access to the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) service DeepSeek, citing concerns about user data collection, Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Access to the service has been restricted on ministry computers connected to external networks. A message indicating "access is restricted" appears when attempting to visit the site, according to the report.
The three ministries are among the key government departments handling sensitive data related to foreign affairs, trade and national security.
An official from the Defense Ministry cited "technical concerns" as the reason for restricting access on military work-related computers.
The move, implemented based on their own assessments, is viewed as part of the government's efforts to proactively address concerns that important government data could be compromised while officials use generative AI services, the report added.
According to DeepSeek's privacy policy, the company collects various forms of personal information, including users' names, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers and passwords for AI model training.
The company also gathers keyboard input patterns, audio data, uploaded files and chat histories.
The policy states that DeepSeek reserves the right to share such data with law enforcement and public agencies at its discretion. (end)
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