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AI, Privacy, and Your Business: Navigating the New Frontier

Information Technologies | David Steele Friday, December 5, 2025

OVERVIEW

Woman using AI in various ways on her phone

Artificial Intelligence tools are transforming daily work, offering capabilities like drafting content and analyzing data, but they also raise critical privacy and security concerns. This article explores the types of AI services, the risks of free versus paid models, and the importance of implementing a formal AI policy to protect sensitive data and guide responsible usage. Establishing clear guidelines and educating your team are essential steps to harness AI 's potential while safeguarding your organization.

INDEPTH

Artificial Intelligence tools are rapidly becoming a part of our daily work. From drafting emails to analyzing complex data, AI offers powerful capabilities. But with this power comes important questions about privacy, data usage, and security. Understanding the landscape of AI services and establishing clear guidelines for your team are critical steps for any modern organization. Technology itself isn't the solution; it's the tool. How you use it determines your success.

This article will explore the common types of AI services, the privacy implications of free versus paid models, and why your business needs a formal AI policy.

Understanding the AI Service Landscape

Not all AI tools are created equal. They vary in function, cost, and, most importantly, how they handle your data. Generally, they fall into a few key categories.

Large Language Models (LLMs) and Chatbots

These are likely the AI tools you're most familiar with. Services like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft CoPilot can generate text, answer questions, and even write code. They operate on a "freemium" model, offering a basic version for free and a more powerful, feature-rich version for a monthly subscription.

  • Free Versions: These are great for general queries and creative tasks. However, the data you input (your "prompts") is often used by the AI provider to train and improve their models. This means sensitive company information, client data, or internal strategy documents should never be entered into a free AI tool.
  • Paid/Business Versions: Subscription-based tiers, such as ChatGPT Team or CoPilot for Microsoft 365, often include enhanced privacy controls. They typically state that your business data will not be used to train their public models and offer better security features. These are built for organizational use, but it's still vital to read the terms of service.

AI -Powered Creative Tools

This category includes AI image generators (like Midjourney or DALL-E 3), video creation platforms, and voice synthesis tools. They help marketing and creative teams produce content at an incredible scale.

  • Pricing Models: Most operate on a subscription or credit-based system. You might pay a monthly fee for a certain number of image generations or video minutes.
  • Data Usage: The primary concern here is intellectual property. Who owns the content you create with AI ? The legal landscape is still evolving. Additionally, the images or text you use to prompt these tools could be stored and analyzed by the service provider.

Specialized AI Software

Beyond general-purpose chatbots, specialized AI tools are designed for specific business functions. These include AI -powered CRM platforms, financial analysis software, and cybersecurity tools that use machine learning to detect threats.

  • Pricing Models: These are almost always subscription-based, often priced per user or per volume of data processed.
  • Data Usage: Because these tools handle core business data, their service agreements are usually more robust. They are designed as enterprise solutions, so data privacy and security are central to their offering. Even so, it is your responsibility to review the agreements and understand how your data is stored, processed, and protected.

The Privacy Trade-Off: Free vs. Paid AI

When an online service is free, you are often the product. This is especially true for free AI tools. The massive computational power required to run these models is expensive, and providers need to cover those costs.

How Free Services Use Your Data

When you use a free AI chatbot, your conversations are reviewed by developers and fed back into the system to make it "smarter." This presents a significant risk for businesses. Imagine an employee pasting a draft of a confidential merger agreement or a list of client contact details into a public AI tool to ask for a summary. That sensitive information is now on a third-party server, outside your control, and potentially included in the AI 's training data.

The Protections of Paid Services

Paid business and enterprise plans are designed to address this fundamental flaw. They typically provide a private, sandboxed environment for your organization. Key features often include:

  • Data Isolation: A commitment that your prompts and data will not be used to train the public AI models.
  • Enhanced Security: Features like single sign-on (SSO), data encryption, and compliance with standards like SOC 2.
  • Administrative Controls: The ability to manage users, monitor usage, and enforce policies from a central dashboard.

While paid services offer a better privacy posture, they are not a silver bullet. The responsibility to use them correctly still falls on your team.

Don't Assume, Formalize: The Need for an AI Policy

Simply having access to AI tools is not a strategy. Without clear guidelines, you open your organization to data leaks, security breaches, and inconsistent work quality. An AI policy provides a framework for your team to innovate responsibly.

For over two decades, we have operated on the understanding that proactive planning and clear policies are the cornerstones of effective technology management. This same principle applies directly to the adoption of AI .

Identifying Your AI Policy Needs

The first step is to understand how AI is already being used in your organization. Are your marketing, sales, and development teams using AI tools? Which ones? Don't just assume; ask them. From there, you can build a policy that addresses your specific operational realities.

Your AI policy should answer critical questions:

  • Approved Tools: Which AI services are approved for business use? Specify different levels of approval (e.g., paid enterprise accounts are approved for confidential data, free tools are for public information only).
  • Data Handling: What types of information are strictly forbidden from being entered into any AI tool? This should include Personally Identifiable Information ( PII ), client data, financial records, and internal strategic documents.
  • Usage Guidelines: How should AI be used? For example, AI can draft initial content, but it must be fact-checked and edited by a human. All AI -generated code must be reviewed for security vulnerabilities.
  • Disclosure: When does AI -generated content need to be disclosed, either internally or externally to clients?

Policy Implementation and Staff Training

A policy is only effective if your team knows it exists and understands how to follow it. Implementation should include dedicated training sessions. Walk your staff through the risks of improper AI use and the specifics of your new policy.

Excellent customer service doesn't just happen; it's designed into our practices. Similarly, safe AI usage must be purposefully designed into your company culture. This means ongoing education, not a one-time memo. Make AI usage a regular topic in team meetings and provide resources for employees to ask questions.

Build Your AI Strategy with a Trusted Partner

Navigating the world of AI can feel overwhelming. The technology is moving fast, and the implications for privacy and security are significant. You don't have to figure it out alone. A collaborative partnership can help you build the right strategy for your organization.

We work directly with our clients to create a partnership, serving as an extension of your team to help you harness technology effectively. An AI Discovery Session is the perfect first step. Together, we can assess your current AI usage, identify risks, and develop a practical policy that empowers your team to use AI productively and safely.

Contact us today to schedule your AI Discovery Session and build a secure foundation for innovation.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Steele is the co-founder of Intrada Technologies, a full-service web development and network management company launched in 2000.  David is responsible for developing and managing client and vendor relationships with a focus on delivering quality service.  In addition, he provides project management oversight on all security, compliancy, strategy, development and network services.

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