Questions to ask before sending AI data offshore
Before a team puts business information into an AI service, understand where that information goes and what the provider can do with it. The service's brand name or billing address will not give you a complete picture of its processing arrangements.
Editorial responsibility: Nardus Oelofse, Chief Consultant.
By Chase & Marshal
Follow the information through the service
Start with the proposed task. List the information submitted, any connected business records, the outputs created and the people who can access them. Include support access, logs and additional providers used to operate the service.
Ask where these activities take place and which settings your organisation can control. Obtain the relevant contractual terms and service documentation. A general statement about security is useful only when it answers the questions raised by your particular information and workflow.
Distinguish processing arrangements from disclosure
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner explains that Principle 12 governs certain disclosures of personal information outside New Zealand. Whether it applies depends on the arrangement. Use the Commissioner's guidance and decision tools to assess the actual information flow, rather than assuming every overseas cloud service is prohibited or automatically acceptable.
Record the basis for the decision and any protections you rely on. When the arrangement is complex or consequential, involve the appropriate privacy and legal expertise before expanding use.
Ask questions that change the decision
Can submitted information be used for the provider's own purposes? Is model training excluded under your actual agreement and settings? Who can access retained information? What happens when you delete a conversation, close an account or request the removal of connected files?
Also ask how the provider communicates changes to its terms or processing arrangements. The answer should identify an operating control or contractual commitment. Keep unresolved questions visible instead of turning assumptions into an approval.
Reduce unnecessary exposure in the workflow
An illustrative operations team may want help classifying customer enquiries. The task might be tested first with invented examples, then with a carefully selected information set after the handling arrangements are established. The level of access should follow the task's needs.
Document the approved use, the information that may be included and the person responsible for review. Revisit the assessment when integrations, data categories or provider terms change. This makes the decision repeatable for the next tool and gives staff a practical way to work within the approved boundaries.
Questions answered
Is a New Zealand billing address enough to establish where data is processed?
Check the actual service documentation, contract and processing arrangements. Corporate address, storage location, support access and other processing locations can answer different questions.
Related
Sources
Sources supporting the factual statements in this article. Findings should be read within their stated dates, geography and scope.
- Safe and smart AI use - Business.govt.nz. www.business.govt.nz. Publication date not supplied.
- New guidance to help you use AI responsibly - Business.govt.nz. www.business.govt.nz. Publication date not supplied.
Understand the information flow
If your team is unsure which information an AI service should receive, we can help map the use case and organise the questions needed for a sound decision.
