What it means for a UK law firm
Zero data retention matters because many AI providers keep prompts and responses for a period to monitor for misuse. Retained data can be read by people reviewing flagged content, and can become subject to legal holds in litigation involving the provider.
Zero data retention is separate from a commitment not to train on customer data. A provider can promise not to train on a firm's data and still keep that data for a period for abuse monitoring.
Zero data retention is usually available only under specific contracts or account types. A firm cannot assume zero data retention applies because a product is sold to businesses; the contract has to say so.
Example
Illustrative scenario
A firm's IT lead asks an AI supplier whether it or its model provider trains on the firm's data, how long prompts and responses are kept and why, and where they are processed. The firm records the answers and the contract clauses that support them.
How Chancery handles it
Chancery only works with AI providers who guarantee that messages sent to and returned from the AI are not retained, including for abuse monitoring; Part 1 of our series on using AI safely explains how retention affected one AI provider's users in recent US litigation.