Australia warns caution with DeepSeek – but is it safe to use?

Australia's science minister, Ed Husic, was the first in the Western governments to speak on privacy concerns pertaining to DeepSeek - the Chinese Chatbot which shakes up markets as well as tech industries.

For years, many Chinese companies ranging from Huawei and TikTok had been criticized and accused of working with the government, hence increasing the concern for the extraction of user data.

While former President Donald Trump called DeepSeek a "wake-up call" for the US, he said it was not a national security threat and could be good if it reduces costs.

Still, Husic told ABC News on Tuesday, there are still many questions left unanswered, especially about "data and privacy management."

"I would be very careful about that; these types of issues need to be weighed up carefully," he added.

DeepSeek has not yet responded to the BBC's request for comment, but users in the UK and US seem unconcerned. The platform has surged to the top of app store rankings in both countries, with market analysts at Sensor Tower reporting 3 million downloads since its launch.

A staggering 80% of those downloads have happened in just the past week, meaning DeepSeek has been downloaded at three times the rate of competitors like Perplexity.

What kind of data does DeepSeek collect?

According to DeepSeek's privacy policy, the platform collects significant amounts of personal information from users, which is stored "on secure servers" in China.

This may include:

• Your email address, phone number, and date of birth provided when creating an account

• Any user input, including text, audio, and chat histories

• "Technical information," such as your phone's model, operating system, IP address, and "keystroke patterns"

DeepSeek states that it uses this data to improve the platform by enhancing its "safety, security, and stability."

The company may then share this information with third parties, such as service providers, advertising partners, and its corporate group, keeping it "for as long as necessary."

"There are genuine concerns around the technological potential of DeepSeek, specifically around the terms of its privacy policy," said ExpressVPN's digital privacy advocate Lauren Hendry Parsons.

She specifically pointed out the section of the policy stating that data can be used "to help match you and your actions outside of the service," which she believes "should raise an alarm for anyone concerned about their privacy."

However, while the app collects a substantial amount of data, experts note that its privacy policy closely mirrors those users may have already agreed to for competing services like ChatGPT and Gemini, or even social media platforms.

Is DeepSeek Safe?

"For any openly available AI model, with a web or app interface - including but not limited to DeepSeek - the prompts, or questions that are asked of the AI, then become available to the makers of that model, as are the answers," said Emily Taylor, chief executive of Oxford Information Labs

"So, anyone working on confidential or national security areas needs to be aware of those risks," she told the BBC.

Dr Richard Whittle from University of Salford said he had "various concerns about data and privacy" with the app, but said there were "plenty of concerns" with the models used in the US too.

"Consumers should always be wary, especially in the hype and fear of missing out on a new, highly popular, app," he said.