---
title: "How do I verify that a local DeepSeek setup isn’t sending prompts off my machine?"  
description: "How do I verify that a local DeepSeek setup isn’t sending prompts off my machine?"  
author: "Björn Ólafsson"  
published: 2026-10-18  
updated: 2026-10-18  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/162570/how-do-i-verify-that-a-local-deepseek-setup-isn-t-sending-prompts-off-my-machine  
category: "Local AI Privacy"  
tags: ["DeepSeek", "Local AI", "Network Monitoring", "data privacy"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# How do I verify that a local DeepSeek setup isn’t sending prompts off my machine?

I’ve downloaded a DeepSeek model to run through a desktop chat application. The app connects to an inference server on localhost, and generation works after I disconnect the internet. That’s encouraging, but it doesn’t answer every privacy question I have.

The setup includes the model runner, the chat interface, and optional extensions. I want to check the whole stack before using private documents—not just assume that local inference means every component stays offline.

### What would a practical verification look like?

I can use dummy prompts and monitor outbound connections. What I’m less sure about is how to distinguish update checks and model downloads from telemetry that might include conversation content.

- Should I test startup, document import, generation, and shutdown separately?
- How would I check whether anything queues data while offline and sends it after reconnecting?
- Is a process-level outbound firewall rule enough, or could a helper process make the connection?

I’m looking for a repeatable approach to **local AI network monitoring**, with clear limits on what the results prove. Which logs and application settings would you inspect alongside a packet capture?


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Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/162570/how-do-i-verify-that-a-local-deepseek-setup-isn-t-sending-prompts-off-my-machine

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