Private doesn't mean invisible - What enterprise AI chats really mean

Many companies use AI tools such as ChatGPT Enterprise and Microsoft Copilot to raise efficiency and reduce repetitive tasks. However, it is essential to clarify the meaning of the “private” label. In an enterprise setting, “private” typically refers to daily sharing restrictions rather than absolute confidentiality. Organizations may still access these chats for governance, security, or legal reasons.

ChatGPT Enterprise

OpenAI states that, by default, ChatGPT Enterprise does not use business data (inputs and outputs) to train its models. Customers retain ownership and control over their data, including retention settings. OpenAI also maintains compliance with requirements such as GDPR through contractual agreements, such as a Data Processing Addendum (DPA).

Within an enterprise workspace, “private chat” generally means chats are not shared with colleagues, but it does not guarantee that administrators cannot access them. Enterprise plans may use compliance tools such as the Compliance API, which provides access to logs and metadata and can be integrated with eDiscovery, DLP, or SIEM tools for investigations and audits.

Therefore, even if a chat is labelled “private,” it may still be accessible to the organisation under appropriate roles and processes.

Microsoft 365 Copilot: protected prompts, but still governed by your tenant

Microsoft states that prompts, responses, and data accessed through Microsoft Graph are not used to train the core language models in Microsoft 365 Copilot. Copilot is governed by existing Microsoft 365 privacy, security, and compliance commitments, including GDPR and the EU Data Boundary. Organisations can apply governance and oversight to it. Microsoft Purview provides audit data for Copilot and AI applications (user interactions and admin activities), supporting compliance and investigation workflows when auditing is enabled.

Chats are “private” for daily collaboration but remain subject to enterprise compliance controls.

Who can access these chats, and when?

In both systems, access is typically role-based and should be exercised only in defined situations, such as:

Security incident response
Regulatory compliance/audits
Internal investigations (policy breaches)
Legal hold

Conclusion

If you use Enterprise AI at work, treat chats as you would corporate email or Teams messages: they may be private from colleagues, but are not guaranteed to be hidden from the company when legal, security, or compliance reasons apply.

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