Italy has raised concerns over the handling of personal data by DeepSeek’s chatbot, becoming the first country to formally request an investigation into the matter. The Italian data watchdog authority, Garante, expressed worries about potential risks to the data of millions of users on Tuesday. DeepSeek, a chatbot developed by a Chinese startup, has gained significant popularity with nearly 3 million downloads globally. However, experts have raised privacy concerns regarding the handling of user data, prompting Italy’s request for clarification from the companies behind DeepSeek. The complaint highlights various violations of European and national data protection regulations, including data transfers to China without proper safeguards, unclear user data usage for profiling, and lack of transparency on data retention and handling of minors’ data. Italy’s data watchdog is seeking more information on the training data used for the AI system and how users’ data is processed. Euroconsumers emphasized the importance of AI development complying with European regulations to protect fundamental rights. This recent complaint echoes Italy’s previous actions against AI privacy violations, such as the temporary ban on ChatGPT in 2023 for breaching GDPR rules. As the investigation unfolds, users are advised to exercise caution when using DeepSeek to safeguard their online privacy.