DeepSeek
Is DeepSeek safe?
- Made by
- DeepSeek
- Company based in
- China
- Trains on your chats
- Yes, unless you opt out
- People can read chats
- Not stated
- Temporary chat mode
- No
- Chats used for ads
- No
- Minimum age
- 18
- Regulator actions listed
- 15
- Checked on
DeepSeek’s privacy policy says it collects, processes and stores your personal data in the People’s Republic of China, and its terms say your inputs and outputs may be used to train its models unless you turn off “Improve the model for everyone”. DeepSeek names no security certifications, has no help center or trust page, and gives no deletion timeframe. It says it does not do targeted advertising or sell personal data.
Regulators have acted more against DeepSeek than against any other assistant here. Italy’s Garante ordered an urgent limitation on processing Italian users’ data in January 2025. South Korea’s PIPC announced that DeepSeek paused app downloads there in February 2025, then found undisclosed transfers of data to China and the US, including prompts sent to Beijing Volcano Engine. Berlin’s data protection commissioner reported the apps to Apple and Google as illegal content in June 2025. Australia’s government and several US states banned DeepSeek on government devices.
DeepSeek offers no business plan with a separate no-training commitment.
- Company responsible for your data
- Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd.
- What is used for training
- The privacy policy lists training and improving its models as a use of your prompts, uploads and chat history. The Terms (§4.3) say that inputs and outputs may be used 'to a minimal extent' after 'secure encryption technology processing, strict de-identification', unless you turn off 'Improve the model for everyone'. DeepSeek's training-methods page says that a 'small portion' of fine-tuning data is 'potentially based on user input', and that pre-training uses public and licensed data.
- How to turn training off
- Turn off the "Improve the model for everyone" setting (Terms of Use §4.3). DeepSeek's own documents don't give a menu path. The privacy policy lists 'the right to opt-out of using your Personal Data for training' and gives privacy@deepseek.com for rights requests.
- Business and API plans
- DeepSeek doesn't publish a separate no-training commitment for the API. The Open Platform Terms (effective 29 April 2026) are a 'Specific Agreement' under the Terms of Use, which cover APIs (§1.1) and contain the §4.3 training clause with its opt-out. DeepSeek offers no enterprise plan.
- How long chats are kept
- 'We retain Personal Data for as long as necessary to provide our Services'. Account data, inputs and payment data are kept 'for as long as you have an account'. If you break its terms, data may be kept longer to deal with the violation.
- After you delete a chat or account
- You can copy or delete your chat history in settings. A deleted account can't be reactivated or recovered. Even after you delete your account, DeepSeek may 'retain certain data of the user as required by laws and regulations' (Terms §2.5). DeepSeek doesn't give a deletion timeframe.
- Human review
- DeepSeek's documents do not say whether people read conversations. Its terms reserve the right to 'use technical means to review the behavior of users'.
- Where data is stored
- People's Republic of China: 'we directly collect, process and store your Personal Data in People's Republic of China'.
- Age rules
- The Terms say the service is 'primarily intended for adults'. Users under 18 (or under the minimum age in their country) may use it only with a legal guardian's consent. The EEA section of the privacy policy refers to users aged 14 to 17.
- Ads
- No. The policy says, in capitals: 'WE DO NOT ENGAGE IN TARGETED ADVERTISING, “SELL” PERSONAL DATA OR USE PERSONAL DATA FOR “PROFILING”'. The training-methods page also says that user input used for training is not used for 'user profiling or personalized recommendations'.
- Security and certifications
- The company names no certifications. The privacy policy claims 'commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and physical security measures', and the Terms say it will take measures 'not less than industry practices'. There is no trust page.
- Regulator actions
Date Authority Action Source 2025-01-28 Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italy) Asked Hangzhou DeepSeek and Beijing DeepSeek what personal data they collect, where it comes from, on what legal basis, whether it is stored in China and what is used for training. The companies had 20 days to reply. https://www.gpdp.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10096856 2025-01-30 Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italy) Ordered an urgent limitation, with immediate effect, on processing of Italian users' data, and opened an investigation. The order found breaches of GDPR Arts. 6, 12–14, 27, 31 and 32 and Chapter III rights. https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10098477 2025-01-31 Office of the Texas Governor / Texas DIR (US state) Added DeepSeek to the Texas prohibited-technologies list, banning it on state-owned devices and networks and on personal devices used for state business. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-ban-on-chinese-ai-social-media-apps 2025-02-04 Department of Home Affairs, Australian Government (PSPF Direction 001-2025) Required Australian Government entities to prevent the access, use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services on all government systems and devices, and to remove existing instances. https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/publications-library/direction-001-2025-deepseek-products-applications-and-web-services 2025-02-10 Governor of New York (US state) Banned downloading the DeepSeek app on ITS-managed state government devices and networks. https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-issues-statewide-ban-deepseek-artificial-intelligence-government-devices-and 2025-02-11 European Data Protection Board (EDPB) At its plenary, extended the ChatGPT task force to cover AI enforcement and named it 'the forum for coordination on DeepSeek'. http://www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files/2025-03/20250211finalminutes102ndplenary_en.pdf 2025-02-11 Governor of Virginia, Executive Order 46 (US state) Banned downloading or using DeepSeek on state-issued devices and on state-run networks. https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/media/vdotvirginiagov/doing-business/business-opportunities/consultants/Governor-Glenn-Youngkin-Bans-DeepSeek-AI_acc.pdf 2025-02-17 Personal Information Protection Commission (South Korea) Announced that DeepSeek had suspended new app downloads in Korea from 15 February 2025, following a PIPC recommendation, while it worked to comply with PIPA. The PIPC advised users not to enter personal information in the meantime. https://www.pipc.go.kr/eng/user/ltn/new/noticeDetail.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000001&nttId=2784 2025-03-04 Governor of South Dakota / Bureau of Information and Telecommunications (US state) Banned DeepSeek on state devices and on state employees' personal devices during state time. https://news.sd.gov/news?id=news_kb_article_view&sys_id=27a0845247c8aa1022dc4080236d4369 2025-03-06 Governor of Tennessee (US state) Banned DeepSeek (and Manus) on the Tennessee state network. https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2025/3/6/gov--lee-bans-manus--deepseek-ai-platforms-on-tennessee-state-network.html 2025-03-06 Governor of Arkansas (US state) Blocked DeepSeek on executive-branch devices. https://governor.arkansas.gov/news_post/governor-sanders-blocks-deepseek-rednote-and-lemon8-from-executive-branch-devices/ 2025-03-21 Governor of Oklahoma (US state) Banned DeepSeek on all state-owned devices, citing among other reasons that user data is stored in China. https://oklahoma.gov/governor/newsroom/newsroom/2025/-governor-stitt-bans-deepseek-on-all-state-owned-devices-due-to-.html 2025-04-24 Personal Information Protection Commission (South Korea) Issued corrective recommendations after its examination. It found undisclosed transfers to China and the US (including user prompts sent to Beijing Volcano Engine) and no training opt-out before 17 March 2025. It ordered the transferred prompts destroyed, a Korean-language policy, a domestic agent and stronger safeguards. https://www.pipc.go.kr/eng/user/ltn/new/noticeDetail.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000001&nttId=2819 2025-06-27 Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Germany) Reported the DeepSeek apps to Apple and Google as illegal content under DSA Art. 16, over unlawful transfers of data to China (GDPR Art. 46(1)). This followed a 6 May 2025 demand that DeepSeek fix the problem, which DeepSeek did not meet. https://www.datenschutz-berlin.de/pressemitteilung/berliner-datenschutzbeauftragte-meldet-ki-app-deepseek-in-deutschland-bei-apple-und-google-als-rechtswidrigen-inhalt/ 2025-12-16 Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (Italy, consumer protection) Closed its unfair-practice case PS12942, opened 2 April 2025 over insufficient warnings about hallucinations. The case ended with binding commitments and no finding of infringement: Italian-language disclaimers and translated terms. The closure was announced on 30 April 2026. https://en.agcm.it/en/media/press-releases/2024/4/PS12942-PS12968-PS12973 - Privacy policy
- cdn.deepseek.com
- Terms
- cdn.deepseek.com
- Sources
Page URL DeepSeek Privacy Policy (last update Feb 10, 2026) https://cdn.deepseek.com/policies/en-US/deepseek-privacy-policy.html DeepSeek Terms of Use (last update Mar 27, 2026) https://cdn.deepseek.com/policies/en-US/deepseek-terms-of-use.html Model Mechanism and Training Methods of DeepSeek https://cdn.deepseek.com/policies/en-US/model-algorithm-disclosure.html DeepSeek Open Platform Terms of Service (effective Apr 29, 2026) https://cdn.deepseek.com/policies/en-US/deepseek-open-platform-terms-of-service.html Garante press release 28 Jan 2025 https://www.gpdp.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10096856 Garante press release 30 Jan 2025 https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10097450 Garante decision 30 Jan 2025 [10098477] https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10098477 PIPC press release 17/18 Feb 2025 https://www.pipc.go.kr/eng/user/ltn/new/noticeDetail.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000001&nttId=2784 PIPC press release 24 Apr 2025 (EN) https://www.pipc.go.kr/eng/user/ltn/new/noticeDetail.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000001&nttId=2819 PIPC press release 24 Apr 2025 (KO) https://www.pipc.go.kr/np/cop/bbs/selectBoardArticle.do?bbsId=BS074&mCode=C020010000&nttId=11145 Berlin DPA press release 27 Jun 2025 https://www.datenschutz-berlin.de/pressemitteilung/berliner-datenschutzbeauftragte-meldet-ki-app-deepseek-in-deutschland-bei-apple-und-google-als-rechtswidrigen-inhalt/ EDPB 102nd plenary minutes (11 Feb 2025) http://www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files/2025-03/20250211finalminutes102ndplenary_en.pdf EDPB press release 12 Feb 2025 https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/edpb-adopts-statement-age-assurance-creates-task-force-ai-enforcement-and-gives_ga Australia PSPF Direction 001-2025 https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/publications-library/direction-001-2025-deepseek-products-applications-and-web-services Texas Governor press release https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-ban-on-chinese-ai-social-media-apps Texas DIR notice 31 Jan 2025 https://dir.texas.gov/news/governor-abbott-announces-ban-chinese-ai-social-media-apps New York Governor press release 10 Feb 2025 https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-issues-statewide-ban-deepseek-artificial-intelligence-government-devices-and Virginia Executive Order 46 (PDF on vdot.virginia.gov) https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/media/vdotvirginiagov/doing-business/business-opportunities/consultants/Governor-Glenn-Youngkin-Bans-DeepSeek-AI_acc.pdf AGCM press release 30 Apr 2026 https://en.agcm.it/en/media/press-releases/2024/4/PS12942-PS12968-PS12973 AGCM decision no. 31784 (PS12942) https://www.agcm.it/dotcmsdoc/allegati-news/PS12942_acc.%20imp.%2Bchius..pdf