How DeepL keeps your sensitive data secure: Exploring DeepL’s data protection strategy
The advances made in AI technology over the past few years have been astonishing, and there’s no doubt that AI will continue to evolve. However, to do so responsibly, proper data security and data privacy management must remain a top priority.
A recent article from World Economic Forum underscores this issue, stating: “As AI models depend on data quality to deliver salient results, their continued existence hinges on privacy protection being integral to their design.”
With AI’s diverse and growing application in the business world, companies that adopt AI need to be more informed than ever about proper data protection measures.
In this post, we’ll discuss why DeepL Pro is the best option for both first-rate translation quality as well as the highest standards of data security and compliance for your company.
Why is data security essential for your business in the age of AI?
As a leading AI communication tool, DeepL provides high-quality AI translations for thousands of companies around the world to help them get ahead of the competition—but it's not just first-rate translations that set DeepL apart.
Dr. Benedikt Kohn, an associate at the global law firm Taylor Wessing, explains—modern businesses must understand that “AI relies on the processing of huge amounts of data. And sometimes . . . even the most personal data.” To protect this sensitive information, data protection must be considered “first and foremost” when evaluating AI software.
By providing customers with optimal data protection without sacrificing quality, DeepL has become the AI communication tool of choice for companies that want to streamline processes and gain a competitive edge in their industry.
How does DeepL keep your data secure?
To ensure top-notch data security, DeepL servers are controlled exclusively by DeepL SE and operated in ISO 27001-certified data centers with excellent security measures. DeepL does its utmost to protect its servers and ensure that no one can gain unauthorized access.
Unlike in cloud-based environments, this setup guarantees that DeepL retains full control over all your data from start to finish. With this approach, your sensitive data can be securely processed via DeepL’s software.
Additionally, all texts from Pro subscribers are deleted after translation—meaning they aren’t stored permanently but only for the duration of translation, then deleted. Plus, Pro subscribers’ texts are never used to train DeepL's AI models.
As an EU-based company, DeepL complies with all GDPR regulations concerning:
- Data protection
- Data privacy
- The transfer of personal data
Alongside GDPR compliance, DeepL Pro users also enjoy enterprise-level data security and state-of-the-art transport layer security (TLS) encrypted data transmissions. Moreover, DeepL's cipher suites—which are a set of algorithms that secure a network connection—are regularly reviewed and updated.
To further assess the security of its infrastructure and applications, DeepL’s internal security team conducts regular penetration testing with the help of external specialists. All findings are followed up by DeepL’s compliance team to constantly increase the security of DeepL. This ensures only authorized users can access sensitive data and all personally identifiable information remains secure.
Thanks to DeepL’s excellent data security, full GDPR compliance, and high-quality translations, companies can maximize productivity and reduce costs—all while maintaining the highest level of protection for their sensitive data.
How reliable is DeepL, and who has access to your data?
DeepL not only provides high-quality translations, but it also delivers extremely reliable service. All DeepL Pro services are redundant—meaning availability is ensured thanks to additional or alternate uplinks. They’re also protected by automatic failover mechanisms—a process which moves applications to standby servers in the case of a failure to preserve data availability.
In plain terms, these safety features ensure trouble-free, consistent data availability from DeepL—which helps companies streamline their workflows and operate more efficiently.
Whenever possible, DeepL avoids involving subcontractors—since it can be more difficult to maintain full visibility and control when third parties are involved in data processing. For example, DeepL recently moved the processing of PDF translation completely in-house, removing any third-party involvement.
If deemed necessary, qualified subcontractors are carefully selected and audited according to ISO 27001 policies. This approach allows DeepL to retain tight control over who is accessing information—keeping your sensitive data out of the wrong hands.
In a recent sit-down conversation for the DeepL AI Talks series, Dr. Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche, a partner at Taylor Wessing, touched on how DeepL's security measures protect data and benefit its customers, stating:
“It’s really an advantage [that DeepL is] based out of Europe in that respect for us as lawyers. That makes many things more feasible. No data transfer out of the EU/EEA, [DeepL controlled] servers, no subcontractors—these are the typical hurdles we’re facing.”
Why is proper data protection important to your company’s success?
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the predicted global annual cost of cybercrime in 2023 alone will amount to $8 trillion USD (€7.29 trillion). This means that protecting data with proper data security measures, like those used by DeepL, is more important than ever before—and could play a vital role in your company's overall success.
That’s also why, on the user’s side, DeepL adheres to the “principle of least privilege.” This means that Pro account admins can easily control all team members’ access levels. This approach allows admins to:
- Add/remove team members
- Set usage limits (e.g., document translation)
- Retain full control over critical subscription changes
Knowing that the data protection measures in place will keep their sensitive information secure and encourage efficient usage, Pro users can integrate DeepL into their workflows with total confidence.
Which top global companies rely on DeepL’s service?
Industries that prioritize data protection, proper data management, and GDPR compliance routinely adopt DeepL Pro as their AI communication tool of choice.
For this reason, many of DeepL’s customers are industry leaders who demand the highest levels of data protection alongside world-class quality, such as:
- Global law firm Taylor Wessing
- Japanese media company Nikkei, Inc.
In the words of Dr. Freiherr von dem Bussche from Taylor Wessing, with DeepL, companies benefit "from the German/EU gold standards" of data protection, which allow them to “roll out products globally more easily.”
Additionally, since DeepL’s translation AI has been trained using official, public EU documents, it’s able to provide the highest quality outputs. This is especially important for certain industries—such as legal, manufacturing, and governmental organizations—where technical terminology can prove difficult to translate.
What’s the bottom line?
As AI continues to transform the way the world works, data protection must remain at the forefront of all decisions on how to responsibly adopt and integrate AI. DeepL strives to not only meet but exceed its users’ expectations with its data protection strategies and translation quality—and is committed to doing so as AI technology changes and develops in the years to come.
Uniquely positioned to keep users’ sensitive information secure, DeepL is the best choice for privacy-conscious companies.
If your business wants to benefit from DeepL’s first-rate translations and unparalleled data protection, you can learn more at DeepL Pro for Business.