Perplexity is a privately held, VC-funded AI answer-engine (search + chat) built by Perplexity AI, Inc., with a companion agentic browser, Comet. Perplexity's own privacy policy discloses a broad collection footprint (account, query/content, device, and IP-derived location data) and states collected data is used to 'improve or create services and products, including our AI models'; Comet separately records browsing history and engagement when synced to an account, subject to user settings and an incognito mode. The policy states Perplexity does not 'sell' personal data but discloses sharing with advertising/marketing partners for targeted advertising, with an opt-out; Perplexity introduced a sponsored-question ad format in November 2024. Perplexity's App Store privacy label declares data linked to identity is used only for 'Analytics' (no self-declared third-party-advertising purpose or ATT tracking category). In August 2025, Brave's security team found and reported an indirect prompt-injection vulnerability in Comet; Brave's own disclosure timeline states the issue was confirmed patched before Brave's public write-up. Corporate ownership beyond the named legal entity is not disclosed on the sources checked.
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Perplexity's privacy policy states it collects general location from a user's IP address, and lists using collected data to 'improve or create services and products, including our AI models' among its stated purposes, alongside account, transaction, and analytics uses.
Perplexity's Terms of Service identify the operating legal entity as Perplexity AI, Inc., the company behind perplexity.ai and labs.perplexity.ai; no parent company, investor chain, or corporate group structure is disclosed on this or the other primary sources checked, consistent with a privately held, VC-funded company.
Perplexity announced in a November 2024 blog post ('Why We're Experimenting with Advertising') that it was introducing sponsored questions crafted with advertisers into its answer interface, with sponsored content labeled but the underlying answers said to be unaffected by advertisers.
Perplexity's privacy policy states it does not 'sell' personal data for money, but discloses it may share limited data with select marketing/advertising partners for targeted (cross-context behavioral) advertising, offering an opt-out, alongside routine disclosure to its Company Group and service providers.
Brave's security research team discovered an indirect prompt-injection vulnerability in Perplexity's Comet browser, reported it to Perplexity, and published a disclosure timeline stating that final testing on August 13, 2025 confirmed the vulnerability appeared patched, ahead of Brave's public disclosure of the details on August 20, 2025.
Apple's App Store privacy label for the Perplexity app (developer: Perplexity AI, Inc.) states that data linked to a user's identity is collected and used only for the purpose of 'Analytics,' covering Identifiers, User ID, Device ID, Usage Data, Product Interaction, and Diagnostics data — with no 'Third-Party Advertising' purpose declared on the label.
Perplexity's privacy policy states that, depending on account settings, its Comet browser records browsing history and tracks user engagement when Comet is used with a synced Perplexity account, and separately offers an Incognito mode as an opt-out of this recording.