AI and data protection: your data stays with you
The question always comes first, and rightly so: what happens to customer data when an AI is plugged in? Here is where it goes with consumer tools, what we do differently, and what that changes for your obligations.
Where data goes with a consumer AI
When an employee pastes a customer e-mail into an online assistant, that e-mail — name, address, prices, terms — is sent to the provider, often outside Switzerland, under its terms of use. Depending on the plan, it may be retained and used to improve the service. Nothing illegal as such, but a transfer you must be able to justify and document.
Our principle: nothing leaves
- The language model runs on a machine installed in your premises
- Business data (customer history, ERP, e-mails) stays there; no external service receives it
- Technical monitoring transmits no personal data, only the state of the service
- You own the machine, the database and the models tuned to your business
What we store, where, for how long
The copilot's database keeps the history of imported conversations, the searches made and the replies suggested, on the unit installed at your premises. The retention period is the one you set: we configure and document it, and a purge can be scheduled. During the mapping and the prototype, we work on extracts you hand over, on your network or on an encrypted workstation, and delete them at go-live.
Your obligations under the Swiss FADP, and how we help you document them
The revised Federal Act on Data Protection, in force since 1 September 2023, requires you among other things to keep a record of processing activities, inform data subjects, secure the data and frame your processors. Keeping data on site greatly simplifies this file: no transfer abroad to justify, a single processor, a clear scope. We provide the technical description of the processing — which data, where, who has access, for how long — ready to add to your record. Responsibility for the processing and its legal assessment remain yours; for special cases (sensitive data, profiling), have it reviewed by your counsel.
Frequently asked questions
Is our data used to train a model?+
No. The language model is used as is; the copilot learns your business from what it retrieves in your documents (RAG), not by retraining the model. Nothing leaves your machine.
Do we need to inform our customers?+
Your customers must know that their exchanges are kept and processed, which is generally already covered by your privacy notice. We give you the technical wording to add if needed.
What if a customer asks for their data to be erased?+
A customer's data can be found by name, e-mail domain or account number, and erased from the copilot's database like from your other tools. We document the procedure.
Does Ekylibr have access to our data?+
During installation and updates, yes, under a processing agreement that sets out what we may do. Outside interventions, we only see the technical state of the service.