German regulator urges DeepSeek app takedown on privacy grounds
This week, German data protection commissioner Meike Kamp formally asked Apple and Google to remove DeepSeek's app from their respective app stores in the country. The reason: concerns that user data is being transferred to China without adequate safeguards.
"DeepSeek has not been able to provide my agency with convincing evidence that German users' data is protected in China to a level equivalent to that in the European Union," Kamp said in a statement. "Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies."
Kamp said she had asked the company in May to comply with EU data transfer requirements or withdraw its app voluntarily. Since DeepSeek failed to act, her office moved forward with the request to block it.
Google confirmed it had received the notice and was reviewing the request. Apple did not immediately respond. DeepSeek also declined to comment.
According to its own privacy policy, DeepSeek stores users' personal data — including uploaded files and AI interactions — on servers located in China.
DeepSeek made headlines earlier this year with claims that its AI model could rival tools like ChatGPT at a significantly lower cost. However, the company has since come under scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions.
Italy was the first EU country to block DeepSeek's app, citing insufficient transparency around data handling. The Netherlands banned it on government devices. Belgium has issued an advisory against its use by officials, while Spain's consumer group OCU has asked its national data agency to investigate.
In the UK, the government has taken a hands-off approach so far. A spokesperson for the technology ministry said, "The use of DeepSeek remains a personal choice for members of the public," but added, "If evidence of threats arises, we will not hesitate to take the appropriate steps to protect our national security."
In the U.S., lawmakers are preparing legislation to ban executive agencies from using any Chinese-developed AI tools. Meanwhile, Reuters reported this week that DeepSeek is also supporting China's military and intelligence activities, raising further alarms in Western capitals.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Canada News.Net
2 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
China boosting purchases of Russian metals Bloomberg
Aluminum, copper and nickel shipments have surged this year, according to trade data Beijing has increased purchases of Russian metals as Moscow pivots toward Asia amid Western sanctions, Bloomberg has reported, citing customs data. The US and its allies have been targeting Russian base metals in an effort to cut the country's revenues amid the Ukraine conflict. China has become a key buyer of Russian commodities, with overalltradebetween the two countries hitting historic highs last year, exceeding $240 billion. Imports of Russian aluminum jumped nearly 56% year-on-year to almost one million tons between January and May, while copper purchases surged 66% and nickel imports more than doubled, according to Trade Data Monitor, cited by the outlet on Monday. The report noted that while Russian producers Rusal and Norilsk Nickel are not under Western sanctions, their access to global trading platforms has been restricted. In April 2024, the US and UK barred the London Metal Exchange (LME) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) from accepting new Russian-origin aluminum, copper, and nickel and barred imports of the metals. Washington had earlier imposed 200% duties on Russian-made aluminum products, while Canada enacted a full ban on imports of Russian aluminum and steel. Earlier this year, the EU introduced a phased ban on Russian aluminum, setting a 275,000-ton quota that runs through February 2026. The Kremlin has condemned the sanctions as "illegal," warning they will backfire on those imposing them. The measures triggered spikes in global metal prices, with aluminum seeing its biggest surge on the LME in decades. Moscow has redirected exports to Asia and the Middle East amid the shift away from Western markets. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Norilsk Nickel began boosting sales to China in the second half of 2024. The company is also reportedly working with a unit of Chinese gold giant Shandong Gold to expand copper cathode shipments to the country. Sanctioned producers such as Russian Copper and UMCC may also be shipping metal to China, the sources said. Norilsk Nickel's chief executive, Vladimir Potanin, has said the company plans to relocate some copper smelting operations to China to safeguard exports from sanctions pressure on financial transactions.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Movie Review: In ‘Heads of State,' a buddy comedy with statesmen
Say what you will about the Idris Elba-John Cena vehicle 'Heads of State,' but it's surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of NATO. The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected U.S. President Will Derringer, a former action star. 'Heads of State,' directed by Ilya Naishuller ('Nobody'), is mostly about their relationship, a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that 'Heads of State,' which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: 'If NATO falls, there's backstop against despots and dictators.'not It's a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that 'Heads of State' is too timely, don't. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much 'Heads of State' — like most of Hollywood's output — is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality. You could argue that that's not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of 'Heads of State' is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie's mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences. The best thing going for 'Heads of State' is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The 'Suicide Squad' co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters' divergent histories — Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician — in debates like which one of them is 'gym strong' as opposed to 'strong strong.' That's one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query. But one problem in 'Heads of State' goes beyond the high-concept set-up. The best buddy comedies — 'Midnight Run,' '48 Hrs.,' 'The Nice Guys' — are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena's Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately they're both beefy dudes in suits. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we're left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions. 'Heads of State,' an Amazon MGM Studios release is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for sequences of strong violence/action, language and some smoking. Running time: 113 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Justice Department says 2 Chinese nationals charged with spying inside the US for Beijing
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Chinese nationals have been charged with spying inside the United States on behalf of Beijing, including by taking photographs of a naval base, coordinating a cash dead-drop and by participating in efforts to recruit members of the military who they thought might be open to working for Chinese intelligence. The case, filed in federal court in San Francisco and unsealed Monday, is the latest Justice Department prosecution to target what officials say are active efforts by the Chinese government to secretly collect intelligence about American military capabilities — a practice laid bare in startling fashion two years ago with China's launching of a surveillance balloon that U.S. officials ultimately shot down over the coast of South Carolina. 'This case underscores the Chinese government's sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing the case. 'The Justice Department will not stand by while hostile nations embed spies in our country – we will expose foreign operatives, hold their agents to account, and protect the American people from covert threats to our national security.' Officials identified the defendants as Yuance Chen, 38, who arrived in the U.S. on a visa in 2015 and later became a lawful permanent resident, and Liren 'Ryan' Lai, 39, who prosecutors say lives in China but came to Texas this past spring as part of an effort to supervise clandestine espionage operations on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security or MSS. The two were arrested on charges of secretly doing China's bidding without registering as foreign agents with the Justice Department, as required by law. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday. According to an FBI affidavit filed in connection with the case, investigators believe Lai had been developing Chen to be a Chinese intelligence asset since at least mid-2021. Their activities, the FBI says, included coordinating on a dead-drop of at least $10,000 in cash to another person operating at the direction of the MSS. They also conducted surveillance of a Navy recruiting station in California and Navy base in Washington state, including through photographs and videos that investigators believe were sent to Chinese intelligence. Authorities say Lai and Chen also discussed recruiting Navy employees to work for China, with Chen obtaining during a tour of a Navy installation photographs of names and hometowns of recent recruits. Many listed China as their hometown and investigators believe the information was sent to China, the FBI affidavit says. The case is one in a series of prosecutions concerning Chinese intelligence-gathering, including concerning the military. Last year, for instance, the Justice Department charged five Chinese nationals with lying and trying to cover their tracks, more than a year after they were confronted in the dark near a remote Michigan military site where thousands of people had gathered for summer drills. And in 2023, two Navy sailors were charged with providing sensitive military information to China, including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material.
