In short. DeepSeek's privacy policy says it shares input keywords with third party APIs used to provide search services.
Definition: DeepSeek's privacy policy says that it integrates third-party APIs to provide search services and shares users' input keywords for those services. The policy describes the search handoff at the level of keywords and does not identify the providers or a more detailed request format.
Key facts
- DeepSeek's privacy policy was last updated on 10 February 2026.
- The policy lists text input, voice input, prompts, uploaded files, photos, feedback and chat history among the content DeepSeek may collect from users.
- It says that DeepSeek integrates third-party APIs for search services and shares input keywords to provide those services.
- Google's Custom Search REST guide documents
qas the query parameter for a search expression.
What does DeepSeek's policy say it shares?
DeepSeek's privacy policy describes service providers as organizations that help provide, support and develop the Services and understand how they are used. It says DeepSeek shares Personal Data You Provide, Automatically Collected Personal Data and Personal Data From Other Sources with those providers as necessary for their services.
The search-specific sentence is narrower: “We integrate third-party APIs to provide search services, and we will share your input keywords to provide these services.” In this entry, input keywords means the words or terms supplied to the search service. The policy leaves provider identities and a detailed request format unspecified.
The same policy separately describes user input as text input, voice input, prompt, uploaded files, photos, feedback, chat history or other content provided to the model and Services. That list describes information DeepSeek may collect from use of the Services; the search-service sentence identifies input keywords for the search handoff.
How is a keyword represented in a search API?
Google's REST guide describes a Custom Search JSON API request as an HTTP GET request to one URI, with the request details passed as query parameters. It says a search query uses the q parameter to specify the search expression. The guide also identifies an API key and a Programmable Search Engine ID, represented by key and cx, as required parameters for that API.
The following example is the request shown in Google's guide for searching a test Programmable Search Engine for lectures:
GET https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key=INSERT_YOUR_API_KEY&cx=017576662512468239146:omuauf_lfve&q=lectures
This example explains the kind of request field that can carry a search expression. It is an example of Google's API format, not evidence that DeepSeek uses Google Custom Search. The guide says that parameter values need URL encoding and that successful requests return a 200 OK status with JSON response data containing metadata about the search, the search engine and the results.
What can a website owner infer from this disclosure?
The disclosure concerns the wording used to request search results. DeepSeek also says that service providers may access, process or store Personal Data only while performing duties to DeepSeek and pursuant to its instructions.
The policy also says that the Services are not designed or intended to process sensitive Personal Data and advises users not to provide it. A search phrase can contain such information, so the policy's warning applies to the text entered for search as part of the wider user input collected by the Services.
FAQ
Does DeepSeek name the external search API providers?
No provider is named in the search-services sentence. The policy refers to third-party APIs and service providers as categories.
Does the policy say that DeepSeek sends the full chat to search APIs?
It lists several kinds of user input that DeepSeek may collect, while the search-specific disclosure identifies input keywords for the search handoff.
Is Google Custom Search confirmed as a DeepSeek provider?
No. Google's request example shows how one documented search API represents a query; DeepSeek's policy does not identify Google as a provider.
Related terms
Sources
- DeepSeek, "DeepSeek Privacy Policy", 10 February 2026
- Google for Developers, "Use REST to Invoke the API", 28 August 2025
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