DeepSeek mobile apps send your sensitive data to China with no encryption
DeepSeek R1 is the open-source AI from China that shocked the world last week. We learned that a startup with restricted access to high-tech AI … The post DeepSeek mobile apps send your sensitive data to China with no encryption appeared first on BGR.
DeepSeek R1 is the open-source AI from China that shocked the world last week. We learned that a startup with restricted access to high-tech AI chips was able to train a reasoning model as good as ChatGPT o1. This news tanked the stock market while the DeepSeek mobile app soared in the App Store, becoming the #1 free iPhone app.
Since the arrival of this impressive ChatGPT rival, I have told you to stay away from it — at least the iPhone, Android, and web versions. I explained that DeepSeek's privacy policy clearly states that it sends all user data to China. Also troubling is the built-in censorship that stops DeepSeek from talking about topics that are sensitive to the Chinese government. Also, we learned that DeepSeek doesn't have built-in safety protections as good as ChatGPT and others, which means the AI might help out with nefarious activities.
Finally, we saw signs that the first big DeepSeek hack probably occurred, as a research team found an unprotected database holding user data in plain text. Any hacker could have found that database and stolen its contents.
There's now an even more concerning reason to remove DeepSeek from your iPhone or Android. The mobile apps have been caught sending sensitive user data, including chats with the AI, over an unsecured connection. The data is beamed to servers belonging to ByteDance, the Chinese company that created TikTok. But regardless of the destination, the unencrypted communication is troubling for security and privacy.
The post DeepSeek mobile apps send your sensitive data to China with no encryption appeared first on BGR.
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DeepSeek mobile apps send your sensitive data to China with no encryption originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 7 Feb 2025 at 09:40:58 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
