India is considering a ban on DeepSeek, a Chinese AI chatbot, over concerns related to data privacy and cybersecurity. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has launched an investigation into the chatbot’s data collection practices, including tracking user behavior across applications.
Countries like the US, Italy, and Australia have already restricted its use, raising alarms over potential misuse and national security threats.
The investigation regarding potential harm of DeepSeek operates under the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) which functions within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The requested investigation examines the ways in which the chatbot gathers user information that spans from device monitoring to application usage and recorded keystrokes.
A senior official from the government emphasized that DeepSeek poses elevated privacy risks compared to ChatGPT because of its privacy vulnerabilities. User-sensitive information might potentially be accessed without proper legal oversight. Officials state that India refuses to permit Chinese interference with Indian user information because the storage and utilization of sensitive data remain uncertain.
According to reports, DeepSeek collects user data in three ways:
User prompts: Content includes chat history, images and documents that get shared within the platform.
Automatically collected information: Device metadata, battery usage as well as app interaction patterns.
Other sources: These include publicly available data and crowdsourced information.
CERT-In’s findings suggest that DeepSeek can even track user behavior on competing AI applications like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. This level of data access has raised concerns that DeepSeek could manipulate political discourse by spreading misinformation.
More than several national governments have prohibited the usage of DeepSeek in official applications. The governments of the US alongside Italy and Australia implemented restrictions against DeepSeek because of security threats to their nations. The Indian union finance ministry has issued a warning which prohibits government devices from employing both DeepSeek alongside other AI applications. The latest advisory advised organizations that Artificial Intelligence tools posed a threat to preserve confidential information secrecy.
The growing international worries prompt India to potentially issue a warning and possibly outlaw the AI chatbot. National cybersecurity and data privacy require strict regulations because of intensifying global attention toward Chinese AI models.