AI and privacy: what can you share with ChatGPT or Claude as an SMB owner?

AI and privacy: what can you share with ChatGPT or Claude as an SMB owner?

AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude save you hours of work every day, but they also raise a fair question: what should you actually put into them? For SMB owners, AI privacy is not a side issue. The GDPR places concrete obligations on your business, and if you share customer data or staff information carelessly with an external AI platform, you risk fines, reputational damage, and a loss of trust. This article gives you a clear framework: what you can use safely, what to avoid, and how to keep using ChatGPT in a GDPR-compliant way without needing a lawyer on speed dial.

Why AI privacy is a serious topic for SMBs

Most business owners associate privacy risks with large data breaches at multinationals. But the GDPR applies to every company that processes personal data, including yours with ten employees. When you paste a text into ChatGPT that contains a customer's name, email address, or financial situation, you are sending that data to OpenAI's servers in the United States. Technically, that counts as a transfer of personal data outside the European Economic Area.

OpenAI and Anthropic (the company behind Claude) now offer data processing agreements and provide business subscriptions that keep your data out of model training. But the standard free version of ChatGPT does not automatically fall under those terms. The same applies to the free version of Claude. If you have not consciously thought about which account you use and what data you share, you are probably not compliant.

What you can safely share with ChatGPT or Claude

The golden rule is simple: do not share information that could directly or indirectly identify a person, unless you have the right legal basis and technical measures in place.

What you can use in AI tools without significant risk:

• Anonymous texts and documents with no names, email addresses, or customer numbers
• Internal processes, workflows, and procedures that contain no personal data
• Marketing copy, product descriptions, and website text based on fictional examples
• Brainstorming sessions about strategy, product development, or communications
• General questions about laws and regulations
• Code, formulas, or technical documentation without customer-specific data

As long as you work with anonymised or entirely fictional information, you are using AI as a smart writing tool. That is exactly what it is designed for in most everyday situations.

What you should not share: customer data and personal information

This is where it gets specific. Customer data in AI tools is a grey area that turns red quickly if you are not careful. Personal data covers more than you might think: a name combined with a job title and company name already qualifies. An email address does too. So does an IP address.

What you should not put into a standard AI tool without further precautions:

• Customer contact details: names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses
• Financial data from customers or suppliers
• Medical or health information (a special category under the GDPR)
• Personnel files, performance reviews, or salary data
• Citizen service numbers or other identification numbers
• Contracts containing personal data of customers or employees

Imagine you want to summarise a client conversation using Claude. If you paste in the raw transcript, including the client's name, company, and contact details, you are processing personal data through a third party without a valid data processing agreement on the account you are using. That is a GDPR violation, even if your intentions are entirely good.

What if you genuinely need customer data for an AI task?

There are situations where you really do need customer-specific information to complete an AI task properly. Think of automatically processing customer enquiries, analysing order data, or drafting personalised quotes. In those cases, there are two approaches that work.

The first is a business account with a data processing agreement. ChatGPT Team and ChatGPT Enterprise both offer a Data Processing Agreement (DPA). The same applies to Claude through the Anthropic API, and to Gemini through Google Workspace. With such an agreement in place, you have a legal basis for processing personal data, provided you also mention this in your privacy statement and processing register.

The second is local processing through a private model or a self-hosted solution. With tools like n8n, you can build AI workflows where data never goes to an external cloud server but stays within your own infrastructure. This requires more technical setup, but gives you full control over where customer data goes.

How to build a GDPR-compliant approach to AI use

Working with AI in a GDPR-compliant way starts not with technology, but with awareness and policy. That sounds heavy, but for an SMB it does not have to be complicated.

Start with a simple overview of which AI tools your team uses and for which tasks. Then check, per tool, whether a data processing agreement is available and whether you have signed one. After that, draw up a short internal guideline: which data is allowed into the tool, and which is not. That document does not need to be more than one page.

On a practical level, it helps to create standard templates for common AI tasks where personal data has been anonymised. Want to use a client case as an example for a marketing text? Replace the name with "a client in the logistics sector" and the problem with a generic description. The AI does not need those specific details to produce good work anyway.

How does the data protection authority handle AI violations?

The Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) has explicitly named AI as a priority in its supervisory strategy. In 2024 and 2025, multiple investigations were launched into the use of AI tools by companies and government bodies. The authority is not only looking at large organisations. SMBs that process customer data carelessly through AI tools can receive a fine, a formal warning, or a compliance order. The risk is real, and the chance of it going unnoticed decreases as AI use grows.

AI and privacy do not have to be opposites

Most SMB owners use AI with the best intentions: working more efficiently, producing better output, and freeing up time for what actually matters. AI privacy and productive use of AI tools are not mutually exclusive. It comes down to making deliberate choices: the right account, a data processing agreement where needed, and a clear internal agreement about what goes into the tool and what does not.

With the right setup, you can use ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini fully for your business processes, without ignoring the GDPR or putting customers at risk. It takes an afternoon to get it right, and it prevents problems that could cost you months.

Want to know how your business can use AI tools safely and effectively, including the right privacy agreements and working automations? Schedule a free discovery call at 5cagency.nl. We will look at your specific situation together and give you concrete advice with no obligations.