Data Protection & GDPR Compliance Analysis for Major AI Assistants
Understanding how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek and other AI tools handle your conversations and personal data, and whether these AI assistants should be used as part of your daily routine or business strategy.
Is constantly updated.Before choosing an AI assistant for personal or business use, understanding their privacy practices is crucial. Our comprehensive analysis reveals that the most popular AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Mistral, Grok and Microsoft Copilot, operate based on the data-first principle rather than the privacy-by-default principle.
- Key Privacy Concerns Across Major AI Assistants:
- Training Data Usage Most platforms use your conversations to improve their models.
- Human Review Access Support staff and trainers can often access your chat history.
- No Encryption Messages, files and user photos typically aren't encrypted.
- GDPR Compliance Gaps Many services fall short of European data protection standards.
- Big Tech Dependencies All platforms heavily rely on major cloud providers for data processing and providing their services.
Whether you're a business handling sensitive information or an individual concerned about digital privacy, this guide provides transparent insights into how each AI assistant treats your data. Compare privacy policies, understand data retention periods, and make informed decisions about which platforms align with your privacy requirements.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
🇺🇸 US-based
A powerful and versatile AI, but with significant privacy drawbacks. By default, conversations train the models, employees can read chats, and a data breach in August 2025 exposed sensitive user conversations in Google's search index. For any European business, using ChatGPT poses a serious GDPR risk.
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❌ |
| Employees Can't Read Chats | ❌ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | US-based |
Perplexity AI
🇺🇸 US-based
Marketed as an "answer engine," Perplexity uses your data for training right from the start, even on paid plans. Messages are not encrypted by Perplexity and images and files from users were stored without encryption in a publicly accessible place in Cloudinary. Being US-based, it cannot guarantee GDPR compliance, making it a poor choice for handling any sensitive or company-internal information.
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❌ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | US-based |
Microsoft Copilot
🇺🇸 US-based
As a product from a major US tech corporation, it comes with significant privacy concerns. User data is utilized to enhance its services, and Microsoft's extensive data collection practices for purposes like personalized advertising create a clear privacy risk. This lack of data privacy makes it unsuitable for European companies with strict GDPR obligations.
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❓ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | US-based |
Google Gemini
🇺🇸 US-based
A capable AI from Google, but it comes with the same privacy trade-offs. Your data is processed on US servers, used for model training, and Google employees can access user conversations—a clear red flag for privacy. Given Google's business practices, there is a significant privacy risk to users, as data could be used for internal purposes like advertising. Even when using private mode or deleting chats immediately, they will still be accessible to Google for up to 72 hours after they are deleted. (However, the powerful open-source version Gemma can also be deployed on privacy-preserving AI platforms such as CamoCopy without any data protection risks.)
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❌ |
| Employees Can't Read Chats | ❌ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | US-based |
Claude (Anthropic)
🇺🇸 US-based
Claude is marketed for its “ethical AI” approach and is highly capable in programming tasks. However, it is an American company that, since mid-August 2025, has been analyzing and misusing personal conversations for training purposes—this applies to both past conversations and new users. This means that if you have used Claude previously, your conversations are now being used for training and are accessible to employees. This even applies to paying users, meaning you effectively pay twice. Despite its advantages, fundamental data privacy issues remain a significant risk, stemming from its data usage for training new AI models and the US-based location of its servers.
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❌ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | US-based |
Mistral AI
🇪🇺 EU-based
Mistral is a leading European AI company with fast and powerful models. However, it relies heavily on non-EU cloud infrastructure from Big Tech (Microsoft & Google) and uses your data for training by default (you must opt-out). While their EU location is a plus for GDPR, these points are serious considerations for privacy-focused users and businesses. (However, the powerful open-source version can also be deployed on privacy-preserving AI platforms such as CamoCopy without any data protection risks.)
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❓ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❓ |
| Server Location | EU Company (uses Non-EU Infra) |
| Recommended for EU Business | ❓ |
CamoCopy
🇪🇺 EU-based
CamoCopy is a European company specialised in offering privacy-first generative AI solutions to individuals and companies. At the heart of CamoCopy is the privacy-first AI chat assistant that is powered by open source AI models and runs on EU-only infrastructure. It is GDPR compliant.
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ✅ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ✅ |
| GDPR Compliant | ✅ |
| Server Location | EU (secure) |
Aleph Alpha
🇪🇺 EU-based)
Aleph Alpha is a German AI company focused on data sovereignty. They recently shifted their strategy almost entirely to large enterprise users, making them inaccessible for individuals. While their models (PhariaAI) are privacy-friendly, they are not considered as performant as the leading competitors. A good, GDPR-compliant choice for large enterprises if performance is not the top priority.
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ✅ |
| GDPR Compliant | ✅ |
| Server Location | EU (secure) |
| Primary Focus | Enterprise |
| Recommended for EU Business | ✅ |
Grok (xAI)
🇺🇸 US-based
From Elon Musk's xAI, Grok is powerful but has an even worse privacy posture than ChatGPT. It aggressively uses your data from X (Twitter) and your chats for training. Its uncensored nature can also lead to harmful outputs, making it a volatile and privacy-invasive choice.
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❌ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | US-based |
Qwen (Alibaba)
🇨🇳 China-based
Qwen is a state-of-the-art model from China. Using it directly means your data is processed on Chinese servers and is subject to local state surveillance laws. This is an unacceptable privacy risk for users and businesses outside of China. While technically impressive, it is a privacy nightmare. (However, the powerful open-source version can also be deployed on platforms such as CamoCopy without any data protection risks.)
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❌ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | China-based |
DeepSeek
🇨🇳 China-based
Similar to Qwen, DeepSeek is a very capable AI from China. Using their service directly sends your data to Chinese servers, creating a major privacy and security risk under local surveillance laws. It is a non-starter for anyone concerned with data confidentiality. (However, the powerful open-source version can also be deployed on platforms such as CamoCopy without any data protection risks.)
| Feature | |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Default | ❌ |
| Does Not Use Your Data for Training | ❌ |
| GDPR Compliant | ❌ |
| Server Location | China-based |