DeepSeek banned on some Canadian government devices over privacy fears

The Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot DeepSeek is being banned connected immoderate Canadian authorities mobile devices owed to “serious privateness concerns” — and different departments are being urged to bash the same.

An email from the Treasury Board Secretariat’s main accusation serviceman Dominic Rochon shared with Global News says the concerns stem from DeepSeek’s “inappropriate” postulation and retention of delicate idiosyncratic information.

It says the app has already been restricted from authorities mobile devices managed by Shared Services Canada (SSC), which delivers integer services to galore authorities departments and teams.

“I promote these organizations to enactment with SSC to further instrumentality the regularisation connected each department-managed devices,” Rochon wrote successful the email sent Thursday.

“Organizations not supported by SSC services should see blocking the exertion and website connected their departmental web and devices.”

The determination is “a precautionary measurement to support authorities networks and data,” Rochon wrote.

DeepSeek sent shockwaves done fiscal markets past month erstwhile it released its AI chatbot, which is akin to fashionable programs similar OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

However, the Beijing institution has claimed its app was developed utilizing little vigor and with overmuch cheaper semiconductors than those U.S.-based chatbots.

If a Chinese startup has been capable to replicate U.S. firms’ enactment connected the backmost of cheaper, little blase chips, that could person wide implications for the aboriginal of instrumentality learning and the alleged AI arms race, experts say.

Security experts person warned the DeepSeek chatbot collects idiosyncratic accusation similar names, emails, telephone numbers and dates of birth, on with substance oregon audio inputs, prompts, uploaded files, feedback and chat histories.

That has prompted nationalist information and privateness concerns akin to the ones raised by TikTok, which is owned by Chinese genitor institution ByteDance.

Western governments fearfulness Chinese companies volition stock idiosyncratic information with Beijing astatine the Chinese government’s request, which they would beryllium required to travel nether nationalist information laws.

The U.S. concisely banned TikTok past month nether a instrumentality forcing ByteDance to merchantability the fashionable app, though it returned aft U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an hold of the divestiture deadline.

Ottawa banned TikTok from authorities devices successful 2023, citing information risks, though immoderate politicians and governmental parties person since returned to the app.

TikTok was ordered past twelvemonth to “wind down” its concern operations successful Canada aft a nationalist information review, yet the app remains publically available.

—With files from Global’s Craig Lord