Are Prompts Sent to AI APIs Private?

Overview

Prompts sent to an AI API are not automatically private in the sense of “seen only by your app and never retained.” They are transmitted to a service for processing, and the handling depends on the platform, model provider, contract and your own logs. Do not make a no-training or no-storage promise unless the exact route and terms support it.

For WaveSpeedAI, current terms treat inputs and outputs as Customer Data, allocate applicable rights between the parties and permit processing needed to provide the service. The privacy policy describes collection during content creation and use of information to provide and improve services. The published retention policy covers generated media and certain operational records, but it is not a complete prompt-by-prompt deletion guarantee. Third-party model terms may also matter when a route relies on an outside provider.

Reduce the risk before making a request. Remove personal identifiers, credentials and proprietary details that the model does not need. Keep API keys off the client, restrict access to prompt logs, and define what your team retains in analytics, error traces and support tickets. If regulated or confidential material is involved, obtain a contractual answer on retention, subprocessors and training use for that specific workflow.

The useful default is “treat prompts as shared with the processing chain.” Move to a stronger privacy claim only when you have current written evidence for the chosen route and your own application behavior.

Source: WaveSpeedAI Privacy Policy; WaveSpeedAI Terms of Service; WaveSpeedAI data retention policy. Source check: 2026-09-29.