AI and customer data privacy: a plain checklist for small businesses

The moment you connect an AI tool to customer information, you are making a data-handling decision. A short checklist keeps that decision deliberate. This is general guidance and not legal advice, so check the rules for your industry.

Before you connect anything

• List the data. Names, phone numbers, emails, payment details, health or financial information. Know what is involved.
• Use the minimum. If the task does not need a piece of data, leave it out.
• Read the terms. Find out whether the provider stores your data, how long, and whether it is used to train models. Settings often differ between consumer and business plans.
• Know your obligations. Regulated fields, such as healthcare, have specific rules. Ask a qualified professional where unsure.

While it is running

• Use business accounts, not personal ones.
• Limit who can access the tool and the data.
• Keep sensitive data out of casual chat tools.
• Turn off data-sharing options you do not need.
• Keep a record of which tools touch which data.

When something goes wrong

• Decide in advance who is told and who fixes it.
• Be able to turn the automation off quickly.
• Keep backups of important data.

For practices that handle health information

Dental and medical practices handle protected health information and should identify exactly which data an automation would touch before anything is built. Some tasks may not be a fit. See AI automation for dental and medical practices.

Make it part of the project

Ask any vendor how they handle your data. See questions to ask an AI vendor and good vs bad AI practices.

Common questions

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