Is DeepSeek safe?
Be careful: the app stores your chats on servers in China, and regulators in Italy, South Korea and Germany have acted over how it handles your data.
DeepSeek’s chatbot is capable and free, and its models are published openly. The app and website, though, send what you type to DeepSeek’s servers in China, where Berlin’s data protection regulator says users lack the legal protections they would have in the EU.
If you want to try DeepSeek’s models without that, you can run the open versions on your own computer. If you use the app, keep personal, work and family details out of it.
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company. Its privacy policy says it collects, processes and stores your personal data in the People’s Republic of China, and its terms are governed by Chinese law.[1][2][3]
The real risks
What DeepSeek itself says it collects, what regulators and courts have found, its security record and the scams that borrow its name. Each line links to the page it comes from.
What it collects
From DeepSeek’s own privacy policy:
- Account details: email address or phone number, password, and username and date of birth where applicable.[1]
- Everything you give it: text and voice input, prompts, uploaded files and photos, feedback and your chat history.[1]
- Device and network details: device model, operating system, IP address, device identifiers, system language, crash reports and performance logs. It assigns you a device ID and user ID.[1]
- Anything you send its support team, which may include proof of identity or age.[1]
- Your data is shared with companies in its corporate group for storage, security, research and model training, and with service providers such as analytics and search partners.[1]
App store label. Apple rates the app 13+. Its privacy label lists only “Data Linked to You”: contact info, user content (photos, videos, audio and other content), search history, identifiers, usage data, diagnostics and coarse location. No “Data Used to Track You” section is shown. Apple has not verified the label.[4]
Regulators and courts
Fines, orders, investigations and lawsuits, newest first. A lawsuit is what the side bringing it alleges until a court decides.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Berlin’s data protection commissioner reported DeepSeek’s apps to Apple and Google as illegal content in Germany, saying it unlawfully sends users’ data to China. DeepSeek had not acted on a request in May to stop.[5] | |
| South Korea’s privacy regulator found DeepSeek sent users’ data to China and the US without proper consent, and sent device details and what users typed to Beijing Volcano Engine. It stopped sending typed input on 10 April 2025.[6] | |
| At the recommendation of South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission, DeepSeek removed its app from the Korean App Store and Google Play while it fixed privacy problems.[7] | |
| Italy’s data protection authority ordered DeepSeek’s Hangzhou and Beijing companies to stop processing Italian users’ data with immediate effect, after they said EU law didn’t apply to them.[3] |
Breaches and security flaws
- : Security firm NowSecure reported that DeepSeek’s iPhone app sent some device data unencrypted, used weak encryption with a built-in key, and stored login details insecurely on the phone. This is NowSecure’s own finding.[8]
- : Security firm Wiz found a DeepSeek database open to the internet without a password. It held over a million log lines, including chat history and secret keys. Wiz says DeepSeek secured it promptly after being told.[9]
In HARD’s Situation Room: A leading open AI model, with its safety rules removed, is free to download (19 Oct 2026).
What to do
In order, with the place to find each one in DeepSeek.
- Opt out of model training.DeepSeek’s policy says you can opt out of your data being used to train its models, and South Korea’s regulator says an in-app opt-out was added in March 2025. If you can’t find it, email [email protected].[1][6]
- Delete chats you don’t need.Use the app’s settings to manage your chat history; you can copy or delete it there.[1]
- Use a password you don’t use anywhere else.DeepSeek accounts use a password, and NowSecure found the iPhone app stored login details insecurely on the device. A unique password limits the damage if it leaks.[1][8]
- Delete your account when you’re finished.Account deletion is permanent: you can’t reactivate the account or get its content back.[1]
- Or run the open model yourself.DeepSeek publishes its R1 model weights under the MIT licence, including smaller versions that run on a home computer. Run that way, your prompts stay on your machine instead of going to DeepSeek.[10]
When not to use it
- Don’t put work, school or government information into the app, or install it on a managed work phone.[5][8]
- Don’t type anything you wouldn’t want stored in China, such as health, money or family details.[1][5]
- It isn’t meant for children. Its terms say it is for adults, and under-18s should use it only with a parent’s consent.[2]
- Don’t rely on its answers for medical, legal or money decisions. Its terms say answers may contain errors and are for reference only.[2]
What HARD couldn’t verify
Claims you may see elsewhere that HARD couldn’t confirm from a primary source on 7 Nov 2026, so they aren’t in the record above.
- Several US states and federal agencies are reported to have banned DeepSeek on government devices; HARD did not confirm a primary government page for this update.
- South Korea’s regulator said new downloads would resume once DeepSeek published a Korean privacy policy; HARD did not confirm when that happened.
Questions
Is DeepSeek safe to use?
It works, but be careful. What you type goes to servers in China, regulators in Italy, South Korea and Germany have acted over its data handling, and security firms found an exposed database and weak app encryption in early 2025. Use it only for things you wouldn’t mind being stored there.
Is DeepSeek Chinese?
Yes. It is run by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. in China. Its privacy policy says it stores your data in China, and its terms are governed by Chinese law, with disputes heard in Chinese courts.
Does DeepSeek send my data to China?
Yes, when you use its app or website. Its privacy policy says it collects, processes and stores your data in China. Berlin’s data protection commissioner says this breaks EU rules because DeepSeek hasn’t shown your data is protected there.
Does DeepSeek record your keystrokes?
Not according to its current policy. An earlier version listed keystroke patterns, but DeepSeek told South Korea’s regulator in 2025 it never collected them and revised the policy. The current policy doesn’t mention keystrokes.
Is it safe to run DeepSeek on my own computer?
That is the more private option. DeepSeek publishes its models openly under the MIT licence, including smaller versions for ordinary computers. Run that way, your prompts stay on your machine rather than going to DeepSeek’s servers.
Is DeepSeek safe for kids?
It isn’t designed for children. Its terms say it is mainly for adults, and under-18s should use it only with a parent’s or guardian’s consent.
AI chatbots on HARD: Is ChatGPT safe?, Is Character.AI safe?. All of them: Is it safe?
References
Primary sources only: DeepSeek’s own pages, regulators, courts and app stores. Each was checked on 7 Nov 2026.
- DeepSeek. DeepSeek Privacy Policy, 10 Feb 2026. cdn.deepseek.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
- DeepSeek. DeepSeek Terms of Use, 27 Mar 2026. cdn.deepseek.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italy). Intelligenza artificiale: il Garante privacy blocca DeepSeek, 30 Jan 2025. garanteprivacy.it, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Apple App Store. DeepSeek - AI Assistant on the App Store. apps.apple.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit. Berliner Datenschutzbeauftragte meldet KI-App DeepSeek in Deutschland bei Apple und Google als rechtswidrigen Inhalt, 27 Jun 2025. datenschutz-berlin.de, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Personal Information Protection Commission (South Korea). The PIPC Announces Status Examination Results of DeepSeek Service, 24 Apr 2025. pipc.go.kr, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Personal Information Protection Commission (South Korea). DeepSeek Temporarily Suspends Its Application Service in Korea, 17 Feb 2025. pipc.go.kr, checked 7 Nov 2026
- NowSecure. NowSecure Uncovers Multiple Security and Privacy Flaws in DeepSeek iOS Mobile App (NowSecure’s own report), 6 Feb 2025. nowsecure.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Wiz. Wiz Research Uncovers Exposed DeepSeek Database Leaking Sensitive Information, Including Chat History (Wiz’s own report), 29 Jan 2025. wiz.io, checked 7 Nov 2026
- DeepSeek (GitHub). DeepSeek-R1. github.com, checked 7 Nov 2026