87% of business software products' terms and privacy policies say nothing about training AI on your data.
We read the legal documents of nearly 3,700 software products. 5% promise not to train AI on their customers' data. 6% say they may, on the data as it is or after removing names.
- 10,000
- software listings drawn at random
- Nearly 3,700
- products whose own terms we read in full
- More than 5,600
- terms, privacy policies and data agreements
Key findings
- 87% of software products' terms and privacy policies say nothing about whether customers' data is used to train AI.
- 5% promise they don't. 6% say they may: 3% on the data as it is and 3% after removing names. 2% only if the customer opts in.
- Of the products that may train on customers' data as it is, 43% let customers opt out, most often in a setting.
- AI products say more. 32% of them address it, against 9% of other software. 8% may train on customers' data as it is, against 2%.
- In 2022, before ChatGPT, 1% of the same terms and privacy policies said anything about it. Now 6% do.
- 129 products say on their own website that they never train on customers' data. Only 40 say so in their terms.
- 1 in 10 names an AI company it sends data to. OpenAI comes first, then Anthropic and Google.
87% of terms don't say.
What each product's own terms and privacy policy say the company may do with customers' data to train AI, by kind of software. Content and design software says the most, 23% of products, and operations and industry software the least, 7%. Finance software that says anything mostly allows training: 7% may train, 1% promise not to.
- All software: 3,684 products. May train AI on customers' data 3%, Only after removing names 3%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 5%, Doesn't say 87%
- Content and design: 271 products. May train AI on customers' data 6%, Only after removing names 2%, Only for that customer's own model 1%, Only if the customer opts in 4%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 10%, Doesn't say 77%
- Customer service: 122 products. May train AI on customers' data 2%, Only after removing names 6%, Only for that customer's own model 1%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 9%, Doesn't say 80%
- Developer and data tools: 461 products. May train AI on customers' data 5%, Only after removing names 3%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 4%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 7%, Doesn't say 80%
- Legal: 73 products. May train AI on customers' data 3%, Only after removing names 3%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 1%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 11%, Doesn't say 82%
- Work and collaboration: 252 products. May train AI on customers' data 3%, Only after removing names 2%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 3%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 9%, Doesn't say 83%
- Sales and marketing: 604 products. May train AI on customers' data 3%, Only after removing names 4%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 3%, Doesn't say 87%
- Education: 107 products. May train AI on customers' data 3%, Only after removing names 4%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 3%, Doesn't say 89%
- HR and recruiting: 217 products. May train AI on customers' data 2%, Only after removing names 2%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 1%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 5%, Doesn't say 89%
- Healthcare: 144 products. May train AI on customers' data 2%, Only after removing names 2%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 1%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 5%, Doesn't say 90%
- Finance and accounting: 303 products. May train AI on customers' data 3%, Only after removing names 4%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 1%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 1%, Doesn't say 91%
- IT and security: 349 products. May train AI on customers' data 1%, Only after removing names 1%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 3%, Doesn't say 92%
- Operations and industry: 708 products. May train AI on customers' data 1%, Only after removing names 2%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 2%, Doesn't say 93%
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AI products are the ones that say it.
Products sold as AI tools address it nearly 4 times as often as other software, and are 5 times as likely to allow training on customers' data as it is.
- AI products: 675 products. May train AI on customers' data 8%, Only after removing names 7%, Only for that customer's own model 1%, Only if the customer opts in 5%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 12%, Doesn't say 68%
- Other software: 3,009 products. May train AI on customers' data 2%, Only after removing names 2%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 3%, Doesn't say 91%
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In 2022, 1% said anything.
The same terms and privacy policies in the year before ChatGPT, from the Internet Archive, and today. 1,710 products have both.
- Say anything about it
- 2026: 6%2022: 1%
- May train on customers' data
- 2026: 3%2022: 1%
- Say they don't
- 2026: 2%2022: 0%
Only pages the archive saved, at the same address then and now. These are older terms and privacy pages, so they say less than all terms do today.
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43% let you opt out.
Of the 100 products whose terms let them train AI on customers' data as it is, how customers can stop it.
- Opt out in a setting
- 29%
- Opt out by asking
- 9%
- Opt out by contract
- 1%
- Opt out by changing plans
- 2%
- No opt-out offered
- 59%
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The website says never. The terms usually don't.
129 products say on their own marketing, security or help pages that they never train AI on customers' data. 80 of them say nothing about it in their terms.
- Their own terms: 129 products. May train AI on customers' data 1%, Only after removing names 1%, Only for that customer's own model 1%, Only if the customer opts in 5%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 31%, Doesn't say 62%
- All software: 3,684 products. May train AI on customers' data 3%, Only after removing names 3%, Only for that customer's own model 0%, Only if the customer opts in 2%, Says it doesn't train AI on it 5%, Doesn't say 87%
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OpenAI is the AI company named most.
1 in 10 products names an AI company it uses or sends customers' data to. Of those 372, the share that names each one. Many name more than one.
- OpenAI
- 65%
- Anthropic
- 44%
- 32%
- Microsoft
- 12%
- xAI
- 7%
- Amazon
- 7%
- Mistral
- 5%
- ElevenLabs
- 4%
34% of the products that name an AI company say it doesn't train its models on their customers' data.
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What well-known products say.
45 widely used products in CRM, HR, accounting, support and collaboration, read the same way.
- AsanaWork and collaborationMay train AI on customers' dataOpt out in a setting
- GorgiasCustomer supportMay train AI on customers' dataNo opt-out offered
- Help ScoutCustomer supportMay train AI on customers' dataOpt out by asking
- HubSpot Sales HubCRMMay train AI on customers' dataOpt out in a setting
- Insightly CRMCRMMay train AI on customers' dataTurn off Copilot in settings
- IntercomCustomer supportMay train AI on customers' dataNo opt-out offered
- LiveChatCustomer supportMay train AI on customers' dataNo opt-out offered
- Paychex FlexHR and payrollMay train AI on customers' dataNo opt-out offered
- QuickBooks OnlineAccountingMay train AI on customers' dataNo opt-out offered
- SlackWork and collaborationMay train AI on customers' dataOpt out by asking
- FreshdeskCustomer supportOnly after removing namesOpt out by asking
- Greenhouse RecruitingHR and payrollOnly after removing namesNo opt-out offered
- JiraWork and collaborationOnly after removing namesOpt out in a setting
- KustomerCustomer supportOnly after removing namesNo opt-out offered
- NutshellCRMOnly after removing namesNo opt-out offered
- TidioCustomer supportOnly after removing namesOpt out by asking
- Zendesk SuiteCustomer supportOnly after removing namesNo opt-out offered
- Zoho BooksAccountingOnly after removing namesNo opt-out offered
- BambooHRHR and payrollOnly for that customer's own modelNo opt-out offered
- RampAccountingOnly for that customer's own modelNo opt-out offered
- Sales CreatioCRMOnly for that customer's own modelNo opt-out offered
- NotionWork and collaborationOnly if the customer opts inOff unless you opt in
- PipedriveCRMOnly if the customer opts inOff unless you opt in
- Workday HCMHR and payrollOnly if the customer opts inOff unless you opt in
- WrikeWork and collaborationOnly if the customer opts inOff unless you opt in
- AirtableWork and collaborationSays it doesn't train AI on itNo opt-out needed
- FreshBooksAccountingSays it doesn't train AI on itNo opt-out needed
- monday work managementWork and collaborationSays it doesn't train AI on itNo opt-out needed
- Teamwork.comWork and collaborationSays it doesn't train AI on itNo opt-out needed
- ADP Workforce NowHR and payrollDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- BILLAccountingDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- ClickUpWork and collaborationDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- CloseCRMDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- CopperCRMDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- Deel HRHR and payrollDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- ExpensifyAccountingDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- FrontCustomer supportDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- GladlyCustomer supportDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- HiBobHR and payrollDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- KeapCRMDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- Sage IntacctAccountingDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- SalesflareCRMDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- Sugar SellCRMDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- WaveAccountingDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
- XeroAccountingDoesn't sayNo opt-out in the terms
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Know what your software does with your data.
We build AI systems for companies, and we read the vendor terms that come with them. Bring yours to a thirty-minute call.
The data.
We read the documents in October 2026, and their copies in the Internet Archive from the year before ChatGPT.
How we did it
We started from 10,000 business software listings in a large public software directory, drawn at random. For 6,010 of them we could read pages from the seller's own website. For 3,684 we found the seller's own terms of service, privacy policy, data processing agreement or AI policy, 5,614 documents in all. Those 3,684 products, from 3,539 companies, are the study. Pages written by someone else, like an app store, a code host or a parent platform, don't count as a product's terms, and drafts don't count either.
An AI model read every document in full and marked every passage about training AI. It then read each product's marked passages together and answered one question: by default, what does the seller say it may do with customers' own data to train AI? Customers' own data means what they put into the product or create with it. A clause has to say the data trains or improves AI, machine-learning models or algorithms. Improving "the services" doesn't count, and neither does a promise that only covers data from a connected Google account or only covers outside AI companies. The same reading answered how customers can opt out and which AI companies the product names.
A second AI reader read the full documents of 496 products without seeing the first answers. We used the first 326 to tighten the questions, then checked the final reading on 170 new ones. The second reader agreed on all 25 products the first marked as training on customers' data as it is, and on all 45 it marked as saying nothing. On the narrower answers they agreed 55 times in 100, mostly differing on whether a promise was general. Weighted up to all products, the second reader's answers give 87% saying nothing and 5% promising not to train, the same as the shares on this page.
The 2022 comparison uses the Internet Archive's copy of the same terms and privacy pages from the 12 months before ChatGPT came out, read the same way. 1,710 products have a copy from then and now.
The well-known products come from an earlier list of 50 widely used products in CRM, HR, accounting, support and collaboration. We read the clause behind every answer in their table where the two readers disagreed.
These are the published terms. A signed contract or an enterprise plan can say something different, and terms say what a company may do, not what it does.
Cite this study
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). Does your software train AI on your data? 3,684 software products' terms, 2022 and 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/ai-training-policies-customer-data
Free to use with a link to this page. The data is in the CSV.
Questions
Does my software train AI on my data?
Most software terms don't say. 87% of the products we read say nothing either way in their terms and privacy policy. The CSV on this page has the answer for each of the 3,684 products. For your own account, read the terms and data processing agreement for your plan.
How many software companies promise not to train AI on customer data?
Few. 5% of the nearly 3,700 products we read promise in their terms or privacy policy that they don't train AI on customers' data.
How do I stop a software vendor from training AI on my data?
Look for a setting first. Of the products whose terms allow training on customers' data as it is, 43% let customers opt out, most often in a setting, sometimes by email or through a contract.
Do software companies send my data to OpenAI?
Some do. 1 in 10 products names an AI company it uses, and OpenAI is named most often, by 7% of all products. 34% of those that name one say the AI company doesn't train on their customers' data.
Is anonymized data used to train AI?
Sometimes. 3% of products allow training only after removing names, about as many as allow it on the data as it is.
Has this changed since ChatGPT?
Yes. In 2022, 1% of the same terms and privacy policies said anything about training AI on customers' data. Now 6% do.