Is this legal advice?

No. These are practical checks drawn from doing the work. For anything contested or unusual, speak to a solicitor, or use the ICO''s small business guidance, which is free.

We already use AI tools. Is it too late to do this?

No. Run the checks on what you already have, fix what fails, and update your privacy notice. Better now than after a complaint.

Guide

Five checks before you let AI near your customer data

AI tools are cheap, useful and very easy to switch on. The rules about customer data still apply to every one of them.

These are the checks we run before any automation we build goes live. Run them on anything you are about to buy.

The five checks

Know where the data goes

Which company runs the tool, and which country holds the data. If customer details leave the UK, the tool should be able to tell you on what basis. If nobody can answer, that is your answer.

Ask what the tool does with it

Does it use your customers'' messages to train its models, and how long does it keep them. Get it in writing from the supplier''s own documentation, not a salesperson.

Tell customers in plain English

Your privacy notice should mention the kinds of tools you use, and anything automated that talks to customers, like a chatbot, should say it is automated.

Get consent right for marketing

UK rules on email and text marketing are strict, and having someone''s address is not the same as having their consent. An AI tool that sends messages does not change the rules; it just sends more messages.

Keep an off switch

Before you rely on a tool, know how to export your data and how to turn it off, and make one named person the owner. A forgotten automation with customer data in it is a risk nobody is watching.

Where we stand

Every automation we build is checked against UK data protection rules before it goes live, and everything we scope in writing includes a compliance considerations section as standard. PM Product Solutions is registered with the ICO.

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Questions we get asked

Is this legal advice?: No. These are practical checks drawn from doing the work. For anything contested or unusual, speak to a solicitor, or use the ICO''s small business guidance, which is free.
We already use AI tools. Is it too late to do this?: No. Run the checks on what you already have, fix what fails, and update your privacy notice. Better now than after a complaint.