Is Perplexity safe? Age rules, privacy, Comet and the lawsuits

The short answer

It depends on who is using it and what they share. As of October 22, 2026, Perplexity's terms say users must be at least 13, and minors need a parent or guardian to accept the terms for them. Apple's App Store rates the Perplexity app 18+. We did not find a Perplexity page describing parental controls or a teen mode.

On privacy, Perplexity's help center says the AI data retention setting is on by default for Free, Pro and Max users, which lets it use data to train AI models until you switch it off. Perplexity's terms warn that answers may be wrong, biased or incomplete.

Perplexity was among 13 companies that state attorneys general wrote to in 2025. Amazon, news publishers and reference publishers have sued it. These are letters and allegations, not findings.

Who can use Perplexity and how age is checked

• Minimum age: Perplexity's Terms of Service, last updated January 23, 2026, say you must be at least 13. Users who are at least 13 but under the age of majority where they live may use the service only if a parent or guardian accepts the terms on their behalf.
• How age is checked: the terms say users represent that they meet the requirements. They do not describe an age verification method.
• Children's data: Perplexity's privacy notice, last updated October 19, 2026, says its services are not meant for children under 13, and that it does not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16 without parental consent.
• App store rating: as of October 22, 2026, Apple's App Store lists the Perplexity app as 18+, with infrequent mature or suggestive themes and infrequent sexual content or nudity among its content descriptors.
• Parental controls: we did not find a Perplexity page describing parental controls, a teen mode or teen-specific protections.

Content rules, accuracy and crisis features

• Content rules: Perplexity's terms bar users from posting or generating content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, harassing, hateful or invasive of privacy, or that incites violence or criminal activity. The terms do not link to a separate acceptable use policy.
• Accuracy: Perplexity's terms say outputs may be inaccurate, biased or incomplete, and that users should not rely on them for medical, legal, financial or other professional advice.
• Citations: Perplexity's help center says each answer includes citations and links to original sources so users can check the information.
• Crisis features: we did not find a Perplexity page that describes how it responds to users who mention suicide or self-harm.

Privacy: training, retention and deletion

• What it collects: Perplexity's privacy notice lists account details, the prompts, queries and files you submit, the answers generated, device and approximate location data, and, if you use them, data from features such as its email assistant, voice features and Perplexity Health.
• Training: Perplexity's help center article on data collection, updated March 3, 2026, says some data may be used to train AI models and improve search unless you opt out. It says the AI data retention setting is on by default for Free, Pro and Max users, and that enterprise data is not used for training.
• Opting out: the same article says to switch off AI data retention on the Preferences page of your account settings. It says the opt-out applies only to data collected afterward and that data already collected for training cannot be removed.
• Other AI companies: Perplexity's help center says its agreements with model providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic bar them from training their models on Perplexity data.
• Human review: we did not find a statement in Perplexity's privacy notice on whether people review users' conversations.
• Retention: Perplexity's privacy notice does not give specific retention periods; it says data is kept as long as needed for the purposes it lists. Its help center says threads made while logged out expire after 14 days, incognito threads expire after 24 hours, and uploaded files are kept for 30 days by default.
• Deleting threads: Perplexity's help center says you can delete a single thread from its three-dot menu, or clear your whole thread history from your Library with its Delete all threads option. It says deleting a thread is how to remove files uploaded to it.
• Deleting your account: Perplexity's help center says to cancel any subscription first, then delete the account from account settings or through its data privacy request form. It says the account is disabled and its data removed after 30 days, and that logging back in during those 30 days cancels the request.
• Advertising: Perplexity's privacy notice says it does not sell personal data for money. It lists identifiers, internet activity and geolocation among the data shared with advertising partners, and offers opt-outs through its cookie banner and Global Privacy Control signals.

The Comet browser

• Local data: Perplexity's privacy notice says Comet stores browsing data and site permissions on your device, and that Perplexity records browsing history, depending on your settings, when you use Comet with a synced account.
• Comet Assistant: Perplexity's Comet help center says the assistant sends page content, history items or open tabs to Perplexity only when a request needs them, that by default it does not access or upload passwords, autofill data or cookies, and that text you type on websites is not sent unless you include it in a request.
• Retention: the same article says context drawn from pages, history or tabs is kept for up to 30 days in threads marked Temporary, then deleted automatically.
• Controls: Perplexity's Comet help center says you can turn off the assistant or block it on specific sites under Settings, then Privacy and security, and that agents ask for your approval before their first run.
• Incognito: Perplexity's Comet help center says AI requests made in incognito mode are still sent to its servers, and that security logs and abuse-detection signals are kept regardless of incognito mode.

Government letters and actions

These are letters, not findings or enforcement cases.

• 44 attorneys general: on August 25, 2025, a bipartisan group co-led by Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee wrote to 13 companies, including Perplexity AI, asking them to adopt safeguards that keep their AI products from sexualizing children.
• 42 attorneys general: in a letter announced December 10, 2025 and led by Pennsylvania, the group wrote to 13 AI companies, including Perplexity AI, asking for safety testing, recall procedures, clear consumer warnings and other safeguards, and asked the companies to commit to changes by January 16, 2026.

On the official sites we checked, we did not find a state or federal enforcement action against Perplexity over its consumer safety or privacy practices as of October 22, 2026.

Lawsuits

These are allegations, not findings, except where a court has ruled.

• Amazon.com Services LLC v. Perplexity AI, Inc. (N.D. Cal. No. 3:25-cv-09514), filed November 4, 2025: Amazon's complaint brings claims under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California's computer data access law. It alleges Comet's AI agent accessed Amazon customer accounts without identifying itself as an agent. The district court granted Amazon a preliminary injunction in March 2026. On August 4, 2026, the Ninth Circuit vacated it, holding Amazon was unlikely to show Perplexity itself accessed Amazon's computers because the user, aided by the agent, did. The case continues in the district court.
• Noel v. Perplexity AI, Inc. (N.D. Cal. No. 3:26-cv-02803), filed March 31, 2026 against Perplexity, Meta and Google: as reported by MediaPost, the proposed class action alleged that analytics tools on Perplexity's site sent users' chat prompts to Google and Meta, and brought claims under privacy laws including California's wiretapping statute. The court docket shows the case was closed on May 6, 2026.
• Copyright: Dow Jones, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Encyclopaedia Britannica and CNN have each sued Perplexity in federal court in New York alleging copyright infringement, according to court dockets.

Our chatbot lawsuits page tracks other suits involving AI chatbots.

Which laws may apply

None of the laws below names Perplexity. Whether Perplexity counts as a companion chatbot, an AI companion or a conversational AI service under a particular state law is a legal question. These laws set duties for chatbot operators:

• California SB 243, in effect since January 1, 2026: companion chatbot operators must keep a protocol for suicidal ideation, suicide and self-harm that refers users to crisis services, and must disclose that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors. The bill author's office says it gives families a private right of action.
• New York's AI companion law, in effect since November 5, 2025: operators must have a protocol to detect and respond to signs of suicidal ideation or self-harm and refer users to crisis services, and must tell users they are talking to AI at the start of a session and every three hours of continued use. The Attorney General enforces it.
• Idaho's Conversational AI Safety Act (S 1297), signed March 31, 2026 and effective July 1, 2027: operators of conversational AI services open to the public must disclose that the service is AI when people could think they are talking to a human, adopt a suicide-response protocol with crisis referrals, and meet extra duties for minor account holders. The law excludes some tools, and the Attorney General enforces it.

We are not saying Perplexity is covered by, or out of compliance with, any of these laws. It may have practices it has not published, and whether a law applies to it is a legal question this guide does not decide.