When you use an AI tool, your input is processed on their servers. What happens to it after that depends on the tool, the plan you are on, and the specific privacy policy. Here is what you need to know.

The Key Question: Is My Data Used for Training?

Claude (Anthropic): On paid plans (Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise), Anthropic does not use your conversations to train their models. On the free plan, they may use your data for training unless you opt out. Anthropic has been consistently transparent about this and has a strong reputation for privacy.

ChatGPT (OpenAI): On paid plans (Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise), OpenAI does not use your conversations for training by default. On the free plan, your data may be used for training. You can opt out in settings, but the default is opt-in. Business and Enterprise plans have the strongest data protections.

Perplexity: Does not use your queries or data to train models. Search queries are processed to find answers but are not stored for training purposes.

Gemini (Google): On the free tier, Google may use your conversations to improve their models. On paid plans (Google AI Pro, Ultra), your data is not used for training. However, be aware that Gemini is deeply integrated with your Google account. If you use Gemini in Gmail or Docs, it has access to your email and document content within the scope of that conversation. Google's data handling is governed by their existing privacy policies, which are extensive but worth reading if privacy is a concern.

Other tools: Privacy policies vary widely. Suno, Midjourney, Runway, Kling, and other creative tools typically retain rights to content created on free tiers. Read the terms carefully, especially if you are creating content for commercial use.

Practical Privacy Rules

Never paste into any AI tool: Passwords, API keys, bank account numbers, tax file numbers, credit card details, or any credentials.

Think twice before pasting: Client names and personal details, confidential contracts, medical records, employee performance reviews, proprietary business data, or anything covered by an NDA.

Generally safe to paste: Your own writing for editing, publicly available information, general business questions without identifying details, research queries, creative projects.

The paid plan principle: If you are doing any professional work with AI, pay for the subscription. Paid plans consistently offer better privacy protections than free tiers across all major tools. Consider it a cost of doing business.

The coffee shop test: Would you be comfortable reading this input aloud in a crowded coffee shop? If yes, it is probably fine for AI. If not, think carefully about whether you need to share that specific information, or whether you can anonymise it first.

A Note on Australian Privacy Law

If you are a business using AI tools to process customer data, you should be aware that the Australian Privacy Act applies regardless of where the AI tool's servers are located. Uploading customer personal information to an overseas AI service may constitute a disclosure of personal information under the Act. If in doubt, seek legal advice before using AI tools with customer data. For personal use, this is less of a concern, but it is worth being aware of.