DeepSeek: revolutionary AI tool or potential security risk?
30th January 2025
Seemingly out of nowhere, DeepSeek has launched the AI landscape into a new era: what is it, why is it popular and can you trust it with your data?
DeepSeek is a free AI powered chatbot – it can answer questions and create content from prompts. It reportedly only cost $6 million to develop: in comparison, annual expenses for Open AI’s ChatGPT have reached $7 billion. Boasting advanced capabilities that rival and, in some cases, surpass what other AI can accomplish, DeepSeek is the newest competitor in the AI market.
So, why is it controversial? First, there are questions around DeepSeek’s origin. AI experts have accused DeepSeek of copying elements from ChatGPT without consent. These claims are being investigated, but for many it explains how DeepSeek progressed so quickly.
An AI space-race may be upon us, with China and the US competing to outperform each other. DeepSeek was developed in China and there has been constant concern about cyber attacks leading to data breaches between China and the West. Take the recent TikTok fiasco for example: if a social media app is considered a security threat, then an AI surely is.
Additionally, DeepSeek suffered a significant DDoS attack in the last few weeks, causing it to have to close its registrations. A large scale and malicious attack, it caused outages and performance issues. If DeepSeek can be so easily infiltrated, then many question the safety of personal information.
Other problems can be found in DeepSeek’s terms of service. It states that user information – email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, entered information (be it typed or audio), technical information (the device you use it from) and keystroke patterns – are all collected and stored on servers in China. This is then kept “for as long as is necessary”* and may be sent to other partners.
With data and privacy management being so vague, it is easy to see why the world is panicking over DeepSeek. While it is up to you if you use it or not, the general consensus is to wait and be certain that it is safe before taking any risks with your personal information.
If you would like to know what your rights are in terms of AI and your data, the Information Commissioner’s Office*2 released this blog that may be of interest. Any further queries please contact us HERE.
* https://platform.deepseek.com/downloads/DeepSeek%20Privacy%20Policy.html
*2 https://ico-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/blog-debunking-data-protection-myths-about-ai