AI Data Privacy
Your Business Data Stays Your Business Data.
Using AI inside your business does not have to mean teaching a public AI model your company's confidential information.
Western Software Developers designs AI systems around data minimization, controlled access, appropriate business-grade AI services, and private knowledge architecture so businesses can use AI without unnecessarily exposing proprietary information.
Why Would I Give AI My Company's Secrets?
- What information the AI actually needs
- Where that information is stored
- Who is authorized to access it
- Which AI provider processes it
- What information is transmitted for processing
- How long information may be retained
- Whether provider policies allow the information to be used for model training
- What logs and records are maintained
- What information should never be exposed to a particular workflow
The goal is not to give AI unrestricted knowledge of the company. The goal is to give each AI workflow only the information necessary to perform its authorized task.
Using AI Does Not Automatically Mean Training AI on Your Business
Using information to generate a response
Using information to train a model
Business-grade AI services and APIs can provide contractual and technical data controls that differ from ordinary consumer AI products.
AI providers do not all follow the same policies, and those policies change. Western Software Developers evaluates the current data-handling terms of the AI services used in each implementation rather than assuming them.
Private Knowledge Architecture
Instead of permanently teaching an AI model everything about a company, proprietary information can remain in controlled company databases, document repositories, or knowledge systems.
When an authorized employee asks a question, the system can:
- Identify what information is needed.
- Retrieve only relevant authorized information.
- Provide the necessary context to the AI service.
- Generate the response.
- Return the result to the authorized user.
How information moves
- 01Private company data
- 02Authorized retrieval
- 03Only necessary context
- 04AI processing
- 05Authorized response
We Design Around Minimum Necessary Access
Customer-service AI
May need
- Product information
- Policies
- Customer-specific information when authorized
May not need
- Payroll
- Banking information
- Employee records
- Unrelated contracts
Estimating AI
May need
- Pricing
- Product specifications
- Estimating rules
- Project information
May not need
- HR records
- Unrelated customer files
- Accounting credentials
The principle: give each workflow the minimum information and permissions necessary to perform its job.
Access Control Still Matters
- User authentication
- Role-based permissions
- Database access policies
- Restricted document collections
- API permission controls
- Audit logging
- Separation between departments or customers
- Administrative controls
- Environment separation
- Secret and credential management
Not every project includes every control. Controls are selected based on the sensitivity and requirements of the implementation.
What About Third-Party AI Providers?
Many AI systems use external model providers through business APIs. When that occurs, information required for a request may be transmitted to that provider for processing.
That does not automatically mean the provider is allowed to train its models on the information or expose it to other customers. The provider's current business terms, data-use policies, retention controls, security capabilities, and contractual commitments must be evaluated for the implementation.
Western Software Developers does not control third-party providers' infrastructure. We can design around providers and deployment options appropriate to your requirements.
Some Information May Require Stronger Controls
- Trade secrets
- Financial information
- Personally identifiable information
- Employee information
- Customer records
- Confidential contracts
- Proprietary pricing
- Internal operating procedures
- Regulated information
For sensitive or regulated environments, requirements should be identified before the AI system is designed. Applicable regulatory, contractual, and security requirements must be identified and incorporated into system design.
Questions We Ask Before Connecting AI to Your Business
- 01What information will the AI need?
- 02Where does that information currently live?
- 03How sensitive is it?
- 04Who should be allowed to access it?
- 05Which information should never be exposed to the AI workflow?
- 06Which model/provider will process requests?
- 07What are that provider's current data-use and retention policies?
- 08What should be logged?
- 09How long should logs be retained?
- 10Can sensitive information be minimized or removed before processing?
- 11Does the company have contractual or regulatory requirements?
- 12What happens when an employee leaves or permissions change?
Security Is an Architecture Decision
- Data storage
- Access controls
- AI provider policies
- Permissions
- Data minimization
- Logging
- Application architecture
- Operational procedures
The architecture should reflect the sensitivity of the information being processed.
Next step
Have Sensitive Business Information?
Tell us what you want AI to do and what information it would need to access. Western Software Developers can help determine an appropriate architecture before connecting AI to sensitive business systems.