Germany: State Commissioner for Data Protection in Lower Saxony (LfD Lower Saxony) adopted guidelines on use of Deepseek

On 21 February 2025, the State Commissioner for Data Protection in Lower Saxony (LfD Lower Saxony) issued a recommendation highlighting the risks of using the AI tool DeepSeek R1 (DeepSeek), a generative AI chatbot developed by the Chinese company DeepSeek. While freely available online and through app stores in the EU, DeepSeek may not comply with the European AI Regulation or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The tool's privacy policy indicates unrestricted collection and processing of user data, with the potential obligation to share data with Chinese security authorities. The absence of a legal representative in the EU raises concerns about enforcing GDPR compliance and protecting user rights. The LfD Lower Saxony advises against using AI applications from non-EU providers without a legal EU representative and recommends prioritising AI tools that demonstrate compliance with European data protection standards.