Is ChatGPT safe for New Zealand businesses?
What happens to what you type, the settings to check, what never to paste in, and how the Privacy Act applies.
What happens to what you type
What you type is sent to OpenAI to produce the answer. Whether it may also be used to improve its models depends on your plan and settings. OpenAI says business plans are not used for training by default, while on personal accounts you can turn model improvement off under data controls. Plans and settings change, so check OpenAI's current privacy and data controls pages for your account.
Settings to check today
- Which plan your team uses: personal accounts or a business plan
- Whether chats may be used to improve the model, and turn it off if you don't want that
- Memory: what the assistant remembers between chats, and how to clear it
- Two-step sign-in on every account
- Who in the team has access to shared chats and connected apps
Never paste these in
- Passwords, bank or card details, IRD numbers
- Health information or anything a customer told you in confidence
- Full customer lists or payroll
- Anything covered by a confidentiality agreement
How the Privacy Act applies
If you put personal information into any AI tool, you are still responsible for it under the Privacy Act 2020. Share only what a job needs, know where the tool keeps data, check results before you rely on them, and be open with people about how you use AI. Our Privacy Act checklist for AI tools goes through ten questions, and the AI policy template puts the rules on one page for your team.
Chatting versus acting
A chat assistant answers and you decide what to do, which keeps a person in the loop by design. The risk grows when AI can act: send emails, post or pay. That is where approval matters. In JENA, anything that sends, posts or pays waits for a person to approve it, and every action is logged. Both have their place: see JENA vs ChatGPT.
Questions
Is ChatGPT safe for business use in New Zealand?
It can be, with the right plan and settings, no personal or confidential information pasted in, and a person checking answers before they are used. The Privacy Act 2020 still applies.
Does ChatGPT use my business data for training?
It depends on your plan and settings. OpenAI says business plans are not used for training by default, and personal accounts can turn model improvement off. Check your current data controls.
Can staff use their personal ChatGPT accounts for work?
It is better to use work accounts with two-step sign-in, and to set clear rules in a short AI policy about what can be shared.
What should I never put into ChatGPT?
Passwords, bank or card details, IRD numbers, health information, full customer lists, payroll and anything under a confidentiality agreement.
AI that asks before it acts.
JENA keeps a person approving everything that goes out. Free for 7 days, no card needed.