Belgian consumer rights organisation Test Achats has lodged a complaint against Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek with the Data Protection Authority.
On Wednesday, the consumer group stated that the data processing of the Chinese AI company violates the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, while it also collected large amounts of user data.
Test Achats is primarily concerned by the transfer of Belgians' personal data to China without appropriate safeguards. "Chinese law gives the State access to that data without guarantees of transparency or proportionality," it said in a press release.
The organisation also underscored the lack of legal basis and explanation regarding the use of user data, and the lack of information on the use of data to train the AI. Minor protection, in particular the lack of measures to protect their data, was also a point of concern for Test Achats.
The consumer group has called for the Data Protection Authority to impose a temporary restriction on DeepSeek's processing of Belgian users' data.
On Tuesday, Test Achats' Italian sister organisation, Altroconsumo, also filed a similar complaint against DeepSeek.
Altroconsumo and Test Achats are members of the umbrella organisation for consumers in Europe, Euroconsumers.
