Security checklist for using AI with your company's data

Checklist: security when using AI with company data

Before using AI with confidential information there are five fronts to settle. Classification: define what can be processed by an external service, what needs anonymizing first, and what does not leave the organization.

Contract: confirm in writing that the data is not used to train models, how long it is retained, and where it is processed. Permissions: give the system access only to what it needs, not to the whole repository.

Traceability: keep a record of what was consulted and who can audit it. And compliance: if personal data is involved, verify that the purpose is covered by the data subject's consent and that the international transfer is covered in your data processing policy.

Where do you start?

By classifying, not by choosing a tool. Defining three levels of information — processable by an external service, processable after anonymizing, and not leaving the organization — turns a conversation about fear into a decision about scope.

With that classification done, the technical choice becomes almost automatic. Without it, every project restarts the same conversation.

What if the team is already using AI on its own?

That is the most common situation, and banning it pushes the use underground, where there is no control at all. What works is offering an approved alternative that is at least as convenient and saying clearly which information cannot be pasted into any tool.

Defining that alternative and the list of what cannot leave is part of an AI Discovery, before connecting any tool to real data.

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Frequently asked questions

As far as the information not leaving, yes. But it moves the responsibility for updating, securing, and running the infrastructure onto your team, which is where most real incidents happen. It is the right choice for regulated data, not a default.

It depends on whether the purpose is covered by the original consent. Processing data to handle the data subject's own request usually is; using it for other purposes usually is not. Worth reviewing with legal advice before the pilot.

It is necessary but not sufficient. Without specifying retention, where the processing happens, and access limits, the agreement leaves out exactly what creates the risk.

Every time a new tool comes in and, at minimum, once a year. Providers' terms change and the tool inventory grows on its own.

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Checklist: security when using AI with company data

Where do you start?

What if the team is already using AI on its own?

If this sounds familiar, this is where we pick it up

AI & Automation

AI Discovery

Integrations

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Let's start by understanding your situation