Inside weeks of its launch, DeepSeek turned the top-rated free app on Apple’s App Store, overtaking ChatGPT and sparking headlines worldwide. Its superior AI capabilities have already reshaped conversations about AI’s potential—and its dangers. However with its rising recognition comes an essential query: What occurs to your information whenever you use DeepSeek?
Like different AI platforms, DeepSeek is educated on large datasets collected from the web, probably together with private data. And, in keeping with its privateness coverage, it collects extra than simply what you sort throughout your session—it additionally tracks issues like your IP handle, location, and even the way you work together with different apps. For privacy-conscious customers, that’s an enormous deal.
Lauren Hendry Parsons, Privateness Advocate at ExpressVPN, explains why these considerations shouldn’t be taken frivolously: “DeepSeek’s privateness coverage states it collects keystroke information, IP addresses, and even tracks actions outdoors the app. That alone must be sufficient to make individuals suppose twice about how a lot they’re prepared to share.”
On this article, we’ll discover how DeepSeek collects and makes use of your information, the privateness dangers you have to be conscious of, and how one can defend your data whereas utilizing the newest AI instruments.
What’s DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is an AI chatbot developed by DeepSeek AI, a startup based in 2023 by entrepreneur Liang Wenfeng. In contrast to most AI platforms, DeepSeek is open supply and fully free to customers—a significant factor behind its explosive recognition. This accessibility has made it a severe competitor to business giants like ChatGPT, attracting a variety of customers wanting to discover its superior capabilities with out the limitations of subscription charges.
The corporate claims its flagship AI mannequin, DeepSeek-V3, was constructed utilizing lower than 6 million USD value of computing energy—a fraction of what OpenAI and Meta have spent coaching their very own fashions. Regardless of the decrease prices, DeepSeek’s AI is already being in comparison with main fashions, and in some circumstances, even outperforming them.
This fast success has despatched shockwaves by way of the tech world. After DeepSeek’s launch, main tech shares plummeted, wiping out over 1 trillion USD in market worth. Nvidia, one of many largest suppliers of AI chips, noticed its inventory drop 17% in a single day, marking the largest single-day loss in U.S. inventory market historical past.
However DeepSeek isn’t simply making an affect on Wall Road. Its superior AI capabilities have sparked discussions about how AI will form cybersecurity, misinformation, and digital privateness shifting ahead. Consultants have additionally raised considerations about its information assortment practices, notably how a lot consumer data it tracks and the way that information could be used.
How does DeepSeek accumulate and use your information?
As with all AI chatbot, whenever you use DeepSeek, it’s not only a easy dialog—there’s so much occurring behind the scenes along with your information. Right here’s a breakdown of how DeepSeek collects and makes use of your data:
Keystroke monitoring
The whole lot you sort into DeepSeek is logged. This consists of your messages, prompts, and every other textual content enter. Based on DeepSeek’s privacy policy, they accumulate your “textual content or audio enter, immediate, uploaded information, suggestions, chat historical past, or different content material that you just present to our mannequin and Companies.”
IP handle assortment
DeepSeek additionally gathers technical details about your machine, together with your IP handle. This helps them decide your approximate location and monitor the way you’re accessing their providers. The privateness coverage states that they accumulate “machine and community connection data whenever you entry the Service. This data consists of your machine mannequin, working system, keystroke patterns or rhythms, IP handle, and system language.”
Third-party information sources
Past what you instantly present, DeepSeek could mix your information with data from different sources. This consists of particulars from promoting and analytics companions, which might embody your actions on different web sites and apps. The privateness coverage notes that “advertisers, measurement, and different companions share data with us about you and the actions you have got taken outdoors of the Service, akin to your actions on different web sites and apps or in shops, together with the services or products you bought, on-line or in individual.”
Habits monitoring past DeepSeek
DeepSeek doesn’t simply monitor your exercise inside its personal platform. It additionally tracks the way you work together with different providers and web sites. This implies your actions outdoors of DeepSeek may be collected and analyzed to construct a extra complete profile of your conduct. The privateness coverage mentions that companions share data akin to “cell identifiers for promoting, hashed e mail addresses and cellphone numbers, and cookie identifiers, which we use to assist match you and your actions outdoors of the Service.”
Why does this matter to your privateness?
It’s one factor to know that DeepSeek collects information, however the greater query is: why does that matter? At its core, DeepSeek is constructing a digital profile of you. Each keystroke, each tracked interplay, and each piece of knowledge it pulls from third-party sources provides to an ever-growing image of who you might be. That’s what makes its privateness dangers greater than ChatGPT’s.
Learn extra: Why the Internet of Behaviors could be the next big threat to your privacy
How DeepSeek’s information assortment goes past ChatGPT
ChatGPT has been under fire for collecting user data, however its monitoring continues to be principally confined to interactions inside the app. OpenAI logs conversations, tracks normal utilization patterns, and shops chat information—nevertheless it doesn’t actively monitor your conduct past the chatbot in the identical manner that DeepSeek does.
DeepSeek, however, cross-references your information with third-party sources. Meaning:
- It tracks what you do past the chatbot itself—probably logging your exercise throughout a number of platforms.
- It combines consumer information with cell identifiers, cookie monitoring, and promoting sources to construct a complete behavioral profile.
- It collects keystroke information in real-time—so even should you delete a message earlier than sending it, DeepSeek already has it.
Hendry Parsons calls this a serious pink flag: “Most AI platforms accumulate some stage of consumer information, however DeepSeek goes a step additional. This creates an interconnected information stream that follows you nicely past the app itself. As soon as that information is saved, customers haven’t any actual management over the place it goes or the way it’s used.”
The hazard of AI-driven profiling
The extra information DeepSeek gathers, the extra helpful and probably harmful that information turns into. It may be used for:
- Hyper-targeted promoting: Firms can use DeepSeek’s behavioral monitoring to foretell what you’ll purchase earlier than you even seek for it.
- Political or social profiling: AI instruments that observe consumer sentiment can determine private biases, which might then be exploited for manipulation.
- Information sharing considerations: With DeepSeek’s information saved on servers in China, privateness advocates have raised considerations about who else might entry it.
Hendry Parsons warns that the implications of DeepSeek’s information monitoring prolong far past focused adverts: “DeepSeek’s means to construct detailed consumer profiles is about understanding conduct in methods customers could not count on. This stage of monitoring and evaluation raises essential questions on how that information might be used and whether or not customers really have management over their data.”
AI-driven misinformation
DeepSeek is studying from the information it collects. That’s the place the danger of misinformation is available in.
We’ve already seen circumstances the place AI fashions have:
- Invented false authorized circumstances (ChatGPT falsely generated fake legal precedents for legal professionals).
- Promoted harmful well being misinformation (AI chatbots have advisable toxic “health” solutions).
- Amplified biases and political manipulation (AI fashions can mirror biases within the information they’re educated on).
However DeepSeek’s means to trace and analyze consumer conduct throughout a number of platforms raises an even bigger query: May it affect what individuals see and imagine?
Hendy Parsons explains: “All of us bear in mind the notorious non-toxic glue pizza recommendations in a preferred search engine’s AI outcomes. Individuals must be aware that each AI errors and misinformation campaigns are nothing new—they’re merely getting extra complicated. It is best to all the time confirm any data you see on-line earlier than accepting it as truth or sharing it onwards.”
The larger image: Is DeepSeek protected?
DeepSeek’s privateness considerations additionally raises questions on cybersecurity dangers. With its means to course of massive datasets in real-time, DeepSeek has drawn the eye of safety researchers who warn that AI-driven automation might be leveraged in ways in which enhance cybersecurity threats.
How DeepSeek’s AI capabilities intersect with cybersecurity
DeepSeek is designed to research patterns, predict behaviors, and generate human-like responses, making it a formidable AI software. However these identical capabilities might, in principle, be utilized to cyberattacks, phishing scams, and misinformation campaigns.
Potential dangers embrace:
- Automated vulnerability detection: AI fashions like DeepSeek can shortly scan massive datasets, which might assist safety researchers discover weaknesses—but in addition make it simpler for dangerous actors to determine exploits quicker.
- Extra refined phishing and scams: AI-generated phishing emails are already convincing, however DeepSeek’s means to research consumer conduct might take social engineering ways to the following stage.
- The unfold of AI-generated misinformation: Whereas misinformation is nothing new, AI-powered instruments might create and unfold deceptive content material at scale, making it tougher for customers to differentiate between truth and fiction.
For most individuals, the largest threat isn’t DeepSeek itself, however how AI-driven automation is shaping on-line safety. The extra AI instruments enhance at analyzing human conduct, the extra essential it turns into to be cautious about what we share on-line and the way we work together with AI-powered platforms.
The best way to defend your information when utilizing AI instruments like DeepSeek
It’s clear that AI platforms like DeepSeek and ChatGPT carry highly effective innovation—however not with out dangers to your privateness. Whereas it would really feel overwhelming to navigate these considerations, there are sensible steps you’ll be able to take to safeguard your data and keep in management.
“We will take steps to stop such highly effective AI platforms from acquiring our information within the first place. Whereas it may not be sensible or fascinating to keep away from AI completely, we should always all be aware of the implications of sharing data with any AI and have interaction with it intentionally.” – Lauren Hendry Parsons, Privateness Advocate at ExpressVPN
1. Assume earlier than you sort
Each interplay you have got with DeepSeek is logged, from the questions you ask to the way you phrase them. Deal with your interactions as if they’re being monitored (as a result of they’re) and keep away from sharing something private or delicate. Whether or not it’s work-related data, passwords, or private anecdotes, assume that something you sort might be saved indefinitely.
2. Use a VPN to masks your digital footprint
A high-quality VPN (Digital Personal Community) like ExpressVPN encrypts your web visitors and masks your IP handle, stopping platforms like DeepSeek from pinpointing your actual location. Whereas a VPN received’t cease the chatbot from logging your inputs, it provides additional anonymity by making it tougher to affiliate your exercise along with your id.
Hendry Parsons additionally notes, nonetheless, that VPNs alone aren’t sufficient to deal with all privateness dangers: “VPNs are a vital a part of defending your privateness, however they can’t cease keystroke monitoring or information evaluation occurring inside the app itself. For full safety, it’s essential to mix VPN use with different privacy-first habits.”
3. Decide out of knowledge assortment wherever attainable
DeepSeek could not provide probably the most sturdy privateness controls, nevertheless it’s value exploring the platform’s settings to see what’s obtainable. Many AI instruments present choices to disable information sharing or to exclude your inputs from getting used to coach the mannequin. Whereas opting out received’t eradicate all dangers, it could assist restrict the scope of knowledge assortment.
4. Confirm earlier than you belief AI-generated responses
AI is barely as correct as the information it learns from—and as we’ve seen, AI chatbot’s superior capabilities don’t make them proof against misinformation. Whether or not it’s a product advice or a well being tip, all the time fact-check AI-generated responses earlier than appearing on them.
Misinformation isn’t only a threat to you; it’s additionally how dangerous actors can manipulate AI instruments for phishing scams and disinformation campaigns. Staying cautious ensures you don’t fall sufferer to AI-driven errors or malicious content material.
5. Advocate for higher protections
Past particular person actions, the larger answer lies in demanding accountability from AI corporations and regulators. Pushing for stronger privateness requirements, clear consent mechanisms, and extra transparency round information dealing with practices is crucial to making sure AI evolves responsibly.
As Hendry Parsons explains: “The most secure plan of action is to not use apps with problematic privateness practices. Extra broadly, we have to encourage civil society, massive tech, and regulators to deal with digital rights as human rights, making certain that information dealing with is clear and moral.”
Last ideas: Do you have to use DeepSeek?
DeepSeek’s rise is a testomony to its superior capabilities and accessibility. Its free, open-source nature has made it a favourite amongst customers wanting to discover the potential of AI instruments. However as with every platform that collects and analyzes huge quantities of consumer information, it’s important to proceed with warning.
DeepSeek’s privateness coverage is evident in regards to the scope of its information assortment: keystrokes, IP addresses, and even conduct outdoors the platform are all tracked and analyzed. For customers who worth comfort and cutting-edge AI, this may occasionally look like a good trade-off. However for individuals who prioritize privateness, it’s value rigorously contemplating the implications of utilizing a platform with such in depth monitoring capabilities.
In the end, whether or not DeepSeek is best for you will depend on your consolation stage with its information practices and the way you select to have interaction with it. By taking proactive steps, you’ll be able to decrease the dangers whereas nonetheless exploring what instruments like DeepSeek have to supply.
AI instruments are altering how we work, be taught, and work together on-line. As thrilling as this progress is, it additionally highlights the significance of staying knowledgeable and aware. The extra you perceive how your information is collected and used, the higher geared up you’ll be to make selections that align along with your values and defend your privateness.
FAQ: About DeepSeek
DeepSeek is protected to make use of within the sense that it capabilities as meant and doesn’t include malware. Nonetheless, from a privateness standpoint, it raises considerations. The platform collects keystroke information, IP addresses, and consumer conduct throughout a number of platforms, making its monitoring extra in depth than many different AI chatbots. Whereas this doesn’t essentially make it unsafe, it does imply customers ought to pay attention to how a lot information they’re sharing. If privateness is a precedence, it’s important to take precautions, akin to avoiding delicate inputs, utilizing a VPN like ExpressVPN, and reviewing the platform’s privateness coverage earlier than partaking.
Sure, DeepSeek is totally free to make use of. In contrast to many AI platforms that require subscriptions or provide restricted performance of their free variations, DeepSeek is open supply and doesn’t cost customers for entry. This accessibility has contributed to its fast recognition, particularly amongst customers exploring superior AI instruments with out monetary limitations. Nonetheless, whereas the platform is free, customers ought to take into account that the trade-off comes within the type of information assortment, as outlined in its privateness coverage.
DeepSeek was developed by DeepSeek AI, a startup based in 2023 by entrepreneur Liang Wenfeng. The corporate operates independently and positions itself as a competitor to bigger AI giants like OpenAI. Whereas DeepSeek AI has shortly gained traction for its open-source mannequin and superior capabilities, it has additionally raised questions on information dealing with and transparency because of the in depth data it collects from customers.
No, DeepSeek AI shouldn’t be the identical as ChatGPT, although they share similarities as superior AI chatbot platforms. Each instruments use machine studying to course of inputs and generate human-like responses, however they had been developed by completely different corporations—DeepSeek AI and OpenAI, respectively. DeepSeek has positioned itself as a direct competitor to ChatGPT, providing a free, open-source different with distinctive options like real-time conduct monitoring and cross-referenced information evaluation. These variations in design and performance imply that DeepSeek appeals to a broader vary of customers but in addition comes with heightened privateness considerations.
You don’t want to purchase DeepSeek AI—it’s completely free to make use of. As an open-source platform, DeepSeek doesn’t require a subscription or one-time buy. To get began, you’ll be able to merely obtain the app from main app shops, together with Apple’s App Retailer, or entry it by way of its official web site. That mentioned, take into account that whereas there aren’t any upfront prices, the platform collects consumer information extensively, so it’s essential to evaluate the privateness coverage earlier than partaking with the service.
