For better or worse, AI tools have become an everyday part of doing business. These tools can be huge time savers but they come with risks. It’s critical that you understand these risks and establish a company-wide policy for how AI can or should be used.
The Risks:
- Public Exposure of Conversations and Data: AI conversations can become public and discoverable, potentially exposing personal or sensitive information. Any data entered into an AI tool is at risk. This includes both your questions and any data in any files you uploaded. (Ex: If you upload a list of clients for analysis, the client list could be exposed.)
- Increased Data Breaches: As AI becomes more common, AI data breaches are on the rise.
- Accuracy and Bias: AI tools have come a long way but they can still be wildly inaccurate or even “make things up.” Just like people, AI tools can have bias that can skew their output or decision making. Remember: They were trained on the Internet and what is on the Internet is not always objective.
- Common Repercussions Include: financial losses, disrupted operations, intellectual property theft, damage to your reputation, and skill degradation
What should you do?
- Treat AI Interactions like Social Media: It is important to interact with AI tools with the same level of security caution that you would apply to posting on social media. If your chats become public or the AI tool you use has a data breach, this minimizes the sensitive information that could be exposed.
- Establish a Company-wide AI Policy: Implementing a formal policy can help ensure employees are aligned on the use of AI-generated content and information. Key elements for this policy include:
- Forming a decision committee about AI concepts like ethics, algorithmic bias, and privacy concerns.
- Researching any legal and regulatory compliance requirements you may have.
- Establishing guidelines for AI usage
- Blocking access to unapproved AI tools
- Review for Accuracy: Always review the results generated by AI before using it.
- Use Compliant Tools: Be aware that tools integrated into platforms like Google Workspace are designed to comply with privacy commitments and security measures.
- Never Share Sensitive Data: Never input confidential, proprietary, or highly personal data (such as credentials, Social Security numbers, or unpublished business plans) into public-facing AI systems.
- Customize Privacy Settings: Find and utilize the settings on the platform to limit how your data is used.
- Minimize Data Retention: Regularly delete your past chat history to minimize the amount of stored data the provider retains.
- Stay Informed: AI is still evolving and their privacy policies can change rapidly. Periodically search to stay updated on privacy policies. (The AI tools themselves are quite good for this)
Pro Tip! If you are not sure about how your AI tool handles something, just ask it! Or ask a competing tool if you want a double check.
Use Compliant Tools:
Not all AI tools are made the same. Some will have different policies and risks depending if it is a paid or “free” version. Select AI platforms and versions that adhere to established industry standards, legal frameworks, and organizational privacy policies.
Key aspects of compliant tools include:
- Adherence to Regulatory Standards: The tools must comply with relevant data protection laws like GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, etc. This often involves features like data localization, data minimization, and data privacy.
- Built-in Privacy and Security Features: Compliant tools typically incorporate Privacy by Design principles including
- Data Masking/Anonymization
- Secure Data Handling
- Data Retention Policies
- Commitment to Audits and Transparency: Compliant tools are generally transparent about their data processing practices and may undergo regular third-party security and compliance audits (e.g., SOC 2 reports) to verify their claims.
- Integration with Enterprise Platforms: Tools integrated into trusted enterprise applications tend to be more compliant but you should check with your Enterprise app vendor to understand their compliance and policies.
Want more information or help with your AI journey? Contact Willits Technologies today!
