China's DeepSeek AI is watching what you type
Deepseek collects similar data to American-based AI models, but Chinese laws could make that data more accessible to the government.
China’s DeepSeek, the free artificial intelligence chatbot that’s undercutting American counterparts, has prompted worries about whether it’s safe to use.
While cybersecurity researchers say the app does not immediately appear to be uniquely dangerous, it still carries substantial privacy risks both as an app that follows China’s laws and as an artificial intelligence product that may collect and rearrange everything people tell it.
All large language models, or LLMs — the type of AI-driven advanced chatbot made famous by OpenAI’s ChatGPT — are built by first amassing massive amounts of data, and work in part by collecting what people type into them. DeepSeek, though more efficient than ChatGPT, is no different.
Under Chinese law, all companies must cooperate with and assist with Chinese intelligence efforts, potentially exposing data held by Chinese companies to Chinese government surveillance. That system differs from the U.S., where, in most cases, American agencies usually need a court order or warrant to access information held by American tech companies.
But it’s possible to use DeepSeek and minimize how much data you send to China. Using the app or the chatbot through deepseek.com requires users to register an account, either with an email address or through a Chinese phone number, which most people outside China don’t have.
Rating: 5