Germany Urges Apple and Google to Remove DeepSeek App Over GDPR Violations

The Chinese AI platform is accused of unlawfully transferring user data to China; the app is already banned in Italy

Germany’s data protection authority formally notified Apple and Google on June 27, 2025, that apps developed by the Chinese generative AI company DeepSeek are now considered “illegal” under EU law. Citing Article 16 of the European Digital Services Act (DSA), the regulator urged both tech giants to remove the applications from their German app stores. The request is based on allegations of unlawful data transfers to China.

According to Meike Kamp, Germany’s Data Protection Commissioner, DeepSeek collects and processes a wide range of personal information, including “entered text, conversation histories, shared files, as well as data about users’ locations, devices, and network activity.” This data is reportedly transmitted to subcontractors in China and stored on local servers—violating Article 46 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs international data transfers.

The European Commission has not issued an adequacy decision for China, meaning there is no legal basis for such data transfers. DeepSeek’s practices have already prompted action from other European countries: Italy banned the app in January 2025.