The South Korean Ministry of Education has announced an immediate nationwide ban on DeepSeek's AI chatbot across all educational institutions, including kindergartens, citing major security and privacy risks.
The ban comes in response to mounting concerns about DeepSeek's data collection practices and storage of information on Chinese servers. According to ministry officials, the AI platform collects extensive personal data, including device details, IP addresses, keystroke patterns, and educational performance metrics of students and faculty members.
A ministry security official explained that while all generative AI tools pose potential data misuse risks, DeepSeek presents heightened security challenges due to Chinese laws requiring companies to provide government access to stored information.
The education ministry initially released general AI security guidelines on Thursday morning, recommending institutions avoid using generative AI platforms. However, by Thursday evening, they had escalated to a full ban specifically targeting DeepSeek until its privacy protection measures can be properly evaluated.
Universities and colleges retain limited permission to use DeepSeek for academic research and educational purposes, provided they implement appropriate security measures. However, the platform remains completely restricted at the ministry headquarters, affiliated organizations, and primary through secondary schools.
The swift transition from advisory guidelines to an outright ban highlights growing global concerns about data privacy in educational technology, particularly regarding platforms operating under different national data protection regulations.