Before you license your company's records.
A checklist for owners to work through before they sign anything.
1. Know what you have.
- Your systemsList the software your team works in every day and the year you started using each one. If you switched systems, note where the older records went.
- How far backCheck how many years each system still holds. Some mail servers delete old messages on a schedule, so email can go back less far than you expect.
- What links upLook for records that point to each other, like a ticket that names an order number. A job that can be followed across systems is worth more than the same records apart.
- Whose recordsSeparate what your business created from what it keeps for clients. A client's records go in only when your contract with that client allows it.
2. Decide what stays out.
You set the scope, and anything you name stays out.
HR and payroll files, and anything about one employee's pay or performance.
Your pricing and margins, or anything you treat as a trade secret.
Records a customer contract limits you from sharing.
Direct messages, if you'd rather keep them private.
3. Read the five terms.
Every license sets these. Know what each one says for your business before you agree to it.
- ScopeThe systems and the years the license covers, named one by one.
- Permitted usesWhat the AI company may do with the records, like training and testing its models. Anything the license leaves out is off limits.
- PrivacyHow names and contact details come out, and the cleaned copy you approve before any record leaves.
- ExclusivityWhether one AI company gets sole use of the records, and for how long.
- PaymentThe amount, and the milestones you're paid at.
4. Ask the AI company.
Which teams will work with the records, and for what?
Will you keep a copy once the license ends?
How do you check the cleaned copy for personal information that slipped through?
Will you share the records with any other company?
5. Get your team ready.
- Pick one person who knows your systems. They answer most of the questions after the first call.
- Keep old accounts open. If you're changing software or shutting a system down, hold on to its records until the license is signed.
- Read what your employee handbook and privacy notice say about how company records are used.
- Pull together the customer contracts that mention how you may use their records.
See where your records stand.
Answer four questions, and we'll go through this list with you on the first call.
Prefer to write? Email hello@sixonepartners.com.