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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Short answer: A February 6, 2025 assessment by mobile-security company NowSecure found that the DeepSeek iPhone app disabled Apple’s App Transport Security protections and sent some registration and device-profile data over unencrypted HTTP. DeepSeek’s privacy policy separately said it collected prompts, uploaded files, identifiers and usage data, and stored collected information on servers in China.
That evidence does not prove that every chat prompt was transmitted in plaintext directly to China. It does establish a historical app-security problem, a China-based data-governance concern and a reason to avoid entering confidential information unless the current version and hosting arrangement have been independently reviewed.
What NowSecure actually found
NowSecure published its technical assessment on February 6, 2025. It reported that the iOS app globally disabled Apple’s App Transport Security (ATS), a platform control intended to require secure network connections.
In the company’s example, an app-registration request used the historical HTTP endpoint http://fp-it.fengkongcloud.com/v3/cloudconf. A subsequent device-profile request used http://fp-it.fengkongcloud.com/deviceprofile/v4. NowSecure said some information in the later exchange was compressed and encrypted, but portions of the registration and profile traffic were exposed without transport encryption.
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The exposed categories identified by NowSecure included:
- Device language and user-agent information.
- Device and operating-system details.
- Organization, installation or device identifiers.
- Other device-profile and configuration data.
An observer on a hostile or compromised network could potentially read the unencrypted portions. Because HTTP traffic can also be modified, the risk was not limited to passive monitoring.
NowSecure also attributed additional findings to its assessment, including outdated Triple DES in one component, hardcoded encryption keys, reused or null initialization vectors, insecure local storage of usernames, passwords and keys, possible fingerprinting through sensitive APIs, and data exchanges involving Intercom and ByteDance’s Volcengine platform. These are claims about the assessed app and should not be treated as a current-version audit. Read NowSecure’s assessment.
Did it send chat prompts unencrypted?
The published evidence demonstrates plaintext transmission of some registration and device data. It does not, by itself, demonstrate that every prompt, complete conversation or uploaded file was sent in plaintext.
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That distinction matters. A report can show an insecure telemetry or registration request without proving that the separate conversation channel used the same transport or encryption. Claims that “DeepSeek sent all chats unencrypted” go beyond the evidence described here.
There is still a meaningful privacy risk even when message content is encrypted. Device identifiers, configuration details, language, usage signals and installation identifiers can be correlated over time or combined with other datasets. Unencrypted requests can also be altered in transit.
What “to China” means
The headline combines several different questions that should be separated.
| Question | What the available evidence says |
|---|---|
| Who controls the service? | DeepSeek’s February 14, 2025 privacy policy named Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., a China-registered company, as the data controller. Policy text |
| Where may information be stored? | The policy said collected information was stored on servers in mainland China, subject to its stated exceptions and terms. Privacy-policy PDF |
| Where did network traffic go? | NowSecure identified exchanges with infrastructure including Volcengine, which it described as a ByteDance cloud platform. An IP address outside China does not by itself establish independent ownership, processing or access. |
| Did every plaintext packet go directly to China? | That is not established by the cited packet examples. The HTTP finding and the China-storage statement are related concerns, not proof of one universal route for every item of data. |
China-based storage and company jurisdiction may create legal, regulatory and access concerns for an organization, but they are different from proving that a particular plaintext packet was intercepted or read by a Chinese government agency. The available material does not establish such access.
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What DeepSeek said it collected
The policy listed a broad set of account, content, device and usage information:
- Account details such as username, email address, telephone number and password.
- Prompts, other user input, uploaded files, feedback and chat history.
- IP address, device identifiers, device model, operating system and system language.
- Service, diagnostic, crash and performance logs.
- Usage activity and features used.
- Approximate location inferred from an IP address.
- Third-party sign-in information, including access tokens when signing in through Apple or Google.
- Information shared with service providers, analytics and support providers, and safety-monitoring providers.
Apple’s U.S. App Store listing also displayed a developer-supplied privacy label covering data linked to the user, including identifiers, location, contact information, user content, search history, usage data and diagnostics. Apple says those disclosures have not been verified by Apple. View the App Store listing.
What has changed since the 2025 assessment?
The U.S. App Store listing observed on August 18, 2026 showed version 2.3.6 and required iOS 15 or later. The listing and the historical NowSecure report do not independently establish whether the specific 2025 defects were fixed in version 2.3.6.
A later binary can remove a vulnerability, leave it unchanged or introduce different behavior. App Store availability is therefore not proof of secure transport, private data handling or suitable governance. Apple’s review and malware screening are not equivalent to a full independent source-code, binary, network-security and privacy audit.
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What iPhone users should do
Keep secrets out of the consumer app
Do not paste passwords, authentication codes, API keys, customer records, health or legal information, government-sensitive material, confidential business documents or unreleased intellectual property into the service.
Remove unnecessary access
In iOS Settings, review the app’s permissions for Photos, Microphone, Location and Contacts. Restricting these permissions reduces some device access, but it does not stop prompts, account information, IP address, identifiers, usage data or diagnostics that the app can receive through normal operation.
Uninstall and address previously submitted secrets
- Delete the app if you do not need it.
- Use the current account or privacy controls to request deletion where available; uninstalling alone does not prove that previously uploaded records were erased.
- If you entered a password, API key, proprietary token or similar secret, revoke or rotate it.
- Review your organization’s AI-use policy before using the app on a work or managed device.
A VPN may protect traffic between the phone and the VPN provider on a local network, but it does not fix insecure app-layer behavior or prevent DeepSeek from receiving the data.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Guidance for enterprises and government agencies
Organizations handling regulated, classified, proprietary or customer information should treat the consumer app as unapproved until a version-specific security and data-governance review says otherwise.
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- Block or remove the app through mobile-device management where policy requires.
- Review DNS, proxy, firewall and mobile-threat-defense logs for DeepSeek-related domains.
- Search for credentials, API keys, source code and confidential prompts that users may have submitted, then follow incident-response procedures.
- Require documented controls for data location, retention, training use, subprocessors, deletion, incident notification and audit rights.
- Test the exact app version and configuration before authorizing reinstallation.
- Do not assume that a private cloud, API or self-hosted model is automatically safe; validate logs, telemetry, access controls, patching and model provenance.
NowSecure recommended that enterprises and agencies stop using the iOS app until the identified security and privacy problems were sufficiently mitigated. That recommendation was made in the context of its February 2025 assessment.
Alternatives and their trade-offs
Replacing the consumer app can reduce exposure, but the deployment model determines the actual risk.
| Approach | Potential benefit | What must still be checked |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise-hosted service such as Microsoft Azure AI | Identity, regional hosting and administrative controls may be available. | Exact model region, retention, training defaults, logging and contractual terms. Azure AI Services |
| Self-hosted open model | Prompts can remain inside infrastructure you operate. | GPU security, patching, access control, logs, telemetry, model files and supply-chain provenance. Hugging Face |
| Another enterprise AI vendor | May provide stronger SSO, DLP, audit and retention controls. | Review the specific plan and region rather than assuming a vendor is universally safer. Candidate platforms include OpenAI Business, Anthropic and Google Vertex AI. |
Using DeepSeek through a website or API may avoid an iOS-binary-specific defect, but it does not automatically change DeepSeek’s own data practices. A third-party host’s policy governs a hosted model, while self-hosting transfers security and privacy responsibility to the operator.
What this evidence does—and does not—prove
- Established: NowSecure reported unencrypted portions of registration and device traffic and global ATS disablement on February 6, 2025.
- Established: DeepSeek’s cited policy described collection of prompts and files and storage on servers in China.
- Not established: That every conversation or prompt was transmitted in plaintext.
- Not established: That every plaintext request terminated directly in China.
- Not established: That version 2.3.6 retains or fixes every issue found in 2025.
- Not established: That Chinese government personnel accessed a particular user’s data.
For ordinary users, the practical rule is simple: do not submit sensitive information, and uninstall the consumer app if its benefits do not justify the unresolved uncertainty. For organizations, approval should wait for current-version testing and enforceable data-governance commitments.
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