Tencent policy allows China access to South Korean WorkBuddy users’ AI prompts, report says

Tencent’s WorkBuddy privacy policy allows users’ personal information, including AI prompts and responses, to be transferred to or accessed from China, according to THE ELEC. The disclosure puts a practical question in front of South Korean users and businesses: where can the contents of their AI work travel once they enter the tool?

Tencent AI Watch analysis

What happened

THE ELEC reports that Tencent’s policy, published as of 5 November, names Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) as a recipient of overseas personal data transfers. The listed information includes account and authentication details, payment records, usage data, and AI inputs and outputs. Those inputs can include prompts, voice recordings, uploaded files and task instructions; outputs include conversation histories and generated responses.

The report says WorkBuddy stores user information on servers in Singapore and Hong Kong, while Tencent’s policy allows its China-based affiliate and support or engineering teams there to access or process it. The policy covers both individual and enterprise users’ AI inputs and outputs. THE ELEC says it contacted Tencent for clarification, but had not received a clear response at publication.

Why it matters

For people using WorkBuddy with sensitive business or personal material, the distinction between where data is stored and who may access it matters. Information can remain on overseas servers while still being accessed from China, the report explains. That makes the policy’s permitted access, not just the server map, relevant to decisions about what users submit.

THE ELEC raises possible questions under South Korea’s privacy law, but its report does not establish that regulators have found a violation or that enforcement action is under way. Those are important distinctions; privacy coverage is better with them intact.

Our read

The useful takeaway is straightforward: WorkBuddy’s policy, as described by THE ELEC, permits China-based access to a broad range of user information, including AI conversations and uploaded material. Organisations considering the service should check whether that access fits their data-handling requirements, rather than assuming that servers in Singapore or Hong Kong settle the question.

What to watch

• Whether Tencent clarifies what information China-based teams access and for what purposes.
• Whether South Korean regulators examine the policy or its implementation.
• Whether Tencent changes its disclosures or data-access arrangements.

Discussion spark: Should businesses treat an AI service’s permitted overseas access as a deal-breaker even when its data is stored in another country?

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