Oxford professor advises against putting private data on platform in case it could be shared with Chinese state

Summary

Experts are warning against sharing sensitive data with DeepSeek, a Chinese AI app that has become the most downloaded free app in the US and UK.

Concerns include potential Chinese government data access, alignment with Chinese state narratives (e.g., censoring topics like Tiananmen Square), and user data exploitation.

DeepSeek stores user data on servers in China, governed by laws requiring compliance with national intelligence efforts.

While praised for its affordability and innovation, critics urge caution, citing risks of surveillance, disinformation, and privacy breaches.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    71·
    3 days ago

    Fair, but most people are going to rush to a website because they are either ignorant or lazy, so it makes sense to warn them about how that data will be used.

    • cygnus@lemmy.ca
      41·
      3 days ago

      Absolutely, but they should still elaborate on why it being open source is so important, especially when the industry leader is not.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 days ago

        Who is the industry leader right now? Honest question; my job has a few commercial ones and in my personal use, I mostly use open source ones offline already via Ollama.