Berlin DPA demands DeepSeek removal from app stores

Berlin data protection authority head Meike Kamp said in a statement on 27 June that she believes EU to China transfers by Hangzhou-based DeepSeek fail to meet GDPR standards. 

“Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data in the sphere of influence of Chinese companies,” Kamp said, adding that Chinese DeepSeek users “do not have enforceable rights and effective remedies as guaranteed in the European Union.” 

Kamp had in May demanded that DeepSeek comply with the GDPR’s international transfer requirements or withdraw from German app stores. DeepSeek did not respond, Kamp said on Friday.

“DeepSeek has not been able to convincingly prove to my authority that data of German users in China is protected at a level equivalent to that of the European Union,” she said. 

The commissioner said she expects “a prompt review of a suspension” from both tech companies for the apps.

The unusual move to target app stores may mark a new approach by Germany’s data regulators. Freshfields partner Christoph Werkmeister told Lexology PRO he “is not aware” of any other German data regulators who have done this previously.

“This is a new angle and shows that data regulators become more aggressive in terms of tackling alleged GDPR issues,” Werkmeister said. 

DeepSeek has faced pressure from multiple regulators since it released its R1 model in January 2025. Italy's privacy regulator blocked DeepSeek from app stores ten days after R1 was released, saying the app failed to provide enough information on its use of personal data.

Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission temporarily blocked the DeepSeek app from app stores in the country in February, saying the service would resume once it complied with Korean data protection legislation. The regulator said at the time that it intended to cooperate with its investigation. 

DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment.