Is DeepSeek Safer Than ChatGPT? The Answer May Surprise You

DeepSeek is a Chinese-owned large language model (LLM) that works similarly to ChatGPT. It introduced itself globally in January 2025 with the promise that it could be run cheaper and faster than its main competitor.

Privacy advocates, however, don’t love the type and quantity of data DeepSeek collects, especially considering that a foreign government stores it. We found that DeepSeek is as intrusive as ChatGPT when it comes to data collection. We recommend using security software like a virtual private network, no matter what AI chatbot you have installed.

Below we go into detail about what data DeepSeek collects, our experience using both DeepSeek and ChatGPT, and how to delete the app if you decide you don’t want it.

Is the ChatGPT alternative DeepSeek safe to use?

DeepSeek claims to be better than its U.S. counterpart, ChatGPT, but many wonder if it’s safe. The software is mostly open source and built on an open source model, while ChatGPT is built on a limited access model. Open source software means that the code used to write the software is available for anyone to view and use. It also allows users from across the world to inspect it for bugs, glitches, flaws, and more.

On the other hand, DeepSeek’s privacy policy has some questionable line items. Not only does it collect every bit of information you input into the service, but it also collects automatic information and information from other sources. In addition, DeepSeek shares your information with third parties and affiliates. It’s a lot of data mining that should make any privacy-minded person nervous.

Does DeepSeek collect personal data?

Yes, DeepSeek collects a lot of personal information, some of which you don’t have the option to opt out of if you continue to use the service. If they just needed your username, password, email, and even payment information (if you purchase services from or through them) — that would make sense to us.

Some of the information — like your device’s IP address, activity logs, login information from third parties, and online trackers — isn’t data we think is necessary to collect.

If you’re going to use DeepSeek, we highly recommend having a VPN with some type of tracker blocking on your device to protect your privacy.

Below is what DeepSeek’s privacy policy states it collects:

Info you provide:

• Account information — name, birthday, email, phone number, and password
• User input — basically anything you type or upload into it
• Information from contact with the company, like contacting tech support

Automatically collected data:

• Device information — the type of device, model, IP address, and other device identifiers
• Network information — what internet connections you have
• Log information — what you do on the app
• Location information — which doesn’t seem relevant to most of its services
• Cookies and trackers — to aggregate data about you from across the web
• Payment information if you use it to pay for services

Information from other sources:

• Login information from any connected third-party service providers
• Security information that is supposedly from trusted partners to prevent fraud, but the wording is vague
• Other public information from the internet to train its models

Which is better, DeepSeek or ChatGPT?

Honestly, ChatGPT’s privacy policy isn’t really that different from DeepSeek’s. OpenAI, ChatGPT’s parent organization, gathers much of the same invasive information. It also has an entire section on how it discloses your personal information to third parties. Looking at the two policies side by side, neither is a good choice.

There are some notable differences between the two, though. Both ChatGPT and DeepSeek process information as tokens. DeepSeek, however, can process much more information at a faster rate than ChatGPT. DeepSeek also allows users to access its free tier, while ChatGPT runs primarily on a subscription model. DeepSeek claims it costs less to use overall, a claim that independent parties have substantiated multiple times.

In a side-by-side comparison, DeepSeek is a better AI tool than ChatGPT due to its open-source framework, free tier, and faster processing. As far as actual use cases, we found ChatGPT to be faster (despite the processing information). ChatGPT also gave more diverse answers and organized them in a friendlier format.

 

How to remove your DeepSeek data

We love when software makes it easy for you to delete it. DeepSeek couldn’t be easier to delete from your phone. Below we outline the different delete options you have and how to access them.

1. Open your DeepSeek app.

2. Tap the horizontal bars in the top left corner.

3. Tap your username in the bottom left corner.

4. Tap Delete all chats to delete your chat data.

5. OR tap Delete account to delete your entire account.

FAQs

Bottom line: Is DeepSeek really that good?

While DeepSeek presents well on paper, we actually preferred ChatGPT’s functionality. We used the free version of each and found DeepSeek to be slower with less diversity and organization in its answers. There’s also the fact that DeepSeek is headquartered in a foreign country and collects an invasive amount of data. However, most LLMs follow the same data collection practices.

No matter what AI model you decide to use, you should couple it with security software. Some of the best VPNs available not only encrypt your online traffic, they may also come with tracker blocking technology built in. For example, NordVPN includes Threat Protection, while Surfshark VPN includes CleanWeb. If you’re going to use DeepSeek, the VPN and tracker blocking combo is essential.