For employees
Both are right. This page helps you have the conversation: with a video you can forward, answers to the objections you're going to hear, an email you can send straight away and a proposal that's hard to say no to.
Start with the situation
The conversation goes differently when colleagues already use AI than when nobody does yet. In both cases the message is the same: better properly arranged than done on the quiet.
Then it's already happening, just without agreements and without oversight: on private accounts, with documents nobody knows the whereabouts of. A ban doesn't help; it only makes the use invisible.
What you can say: “We're using it anyway. Let's arrange it so that we know what's happening, and so that client data doesn't end up in it.”
Then nothing has gone wrong yet, and that's a good starting position. But the question will come anyway: from new colleagues, from clients who expect a faster answer, from competitors who are already further ahead.
What you can say: “Let's set it up properly from the start, instead of playing catch-up later.”
The opportunities
Don't make promises you can't keep; name the work you do now that could go faster. Almost every organisation that works with client files will recognise these examples.
"What is the notice period?" "When was this discussed?" One question, an answer with the passage and the page, instead of opening ten PDFs.
Through the connection with your AI assistant you can have passages from different documents put side by side or summarised, on pseudonymised text and with source references so you can check everything.
A client calls with a question about their file. You have the answer while they're on the line, with the source, instead of "I'll call you back".
New colleagues find out for themselves what was agreed in a client file. Whoever is on holiday doesn't need to be called.
A clause on page 37 or an agreement in an old letter: searching by meaning also finds what you wouldn't have found with Ctrl+F.
The objections
Take the concerns seriously: they're usually justified, for ordinary AI chatbots. The difference is in how PrivaSearch sets it up.
“Is that really allowed under the GDPR?”
Names, BSNs (Dutch citizen service numbers), addresses and other personal data are replaced with pseudonyms within PrivaSearch, before any AI is involved. A colleague checks that and approves it. Originals are stored in a data centre in the EU. And you get the data processing agreement, the register entry and a DPIA starter document. This is exactly how it works.
“What happens to our clients' data?”
It stays in the EU. An AI assistant only receives separate, approved passages in which the personal data has already been replaced, never the file itself. Who may see what is set per project, and every search is recorded in the activity log.
“We don't know enough about it.”
You don't need to. There's a short AI training included, with periodic refreshers. The EU AI Act has required that of organisations using AI since February 2025 anyway. PrivaSearch creates an AI policy for your organisation from a single form. And you start small.
“It feels like a risk.”
The biggest risk is AI that's already there without anyone seeing it. With PrivaSearch you see who does what, you decide per project who has access and you revoke permissions in one go. The AI searches and quotes, with source references; deciding remains the work of people.
“That AI makes things up.”
That's why PrivaSearch returns passages from your own documents, with the document and page. You check every answer against the source, instead of relying on what a chatbot pulls from its memory.
“Enterprise AI is far too expensive for us.”
True, and it doesn't have to be. PrivaSearch is made for smaller organisations: one price per organisation instead of per user, without an enterprise contract: €175 a month for up to 10 employees and €350 for up to 25. How the price works.
Send this email
Adjust the names and send it to your manager. Short, businesslike, and with a proposal that carries no risk.
To [manager's name] Subject Using AI, safely and in line with the GDPR
Hi [name], I notice I spend a lot of time searching through client files and documents. AI can really help with that, but I understand you're worried about the GDPR and about our clients' data. So am I: uploading a client file to ChatGPT, Claude or Mistral Vibe is not a good idea. I came across PrivaSearch. It replaces names, BSNs (Dutch citizen service numbers) and addresses with pseudonyms before any AI is involved, a colleague checks that first, and the originals stay in the EU. It comes with a data processing agreement, a DPIA starter document and a short AI training for everyone. My proposal: 1. A twenty-minute demo, with fictitious client files from our sector. 2. Start small: one project, a few colleagues. 3. Then evaluate together, and only then decide. Here's how it works, with a short video: https://privasearch.ai/en/convince-your-employer Shall we set aside half an hour for it? Kind regards, [your name]
The proposal
Frequently asked questions
That depends on the agreements within your organisation. If there are none, at least don't put personal data or confidential documents into a public AI chatbot. According to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), the Dutch data protection authority, that can be a data breach that has to be reported. That's exactly why it's good to start the conversation.
Usually the management or a manager, together with the data protection officer or the person responsible for privacy, if there is one. Send them both the link; the page ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral Vibe and the GDPR is written for whoever wants to get to the bottom of the privacy side.
Ask where exactly the concern lies and whether a demo with fictitious client files could take it away. A no to uncontrolled AI chatbots is justified; a no to a set-up, controlled route is often a no out of unfamiliarity.
No. PrivaSearch is a cloud service: hosting, updates and security are arranged for you. If you work with SharePoint, PrivaSearch can be connected to it read-only.
No. Searching can be done entirely in PrivaSearch itself. If you want to work from your AI assistant, use a business account with a data processing agreement for the connection.
After a demo and an agreement, we set up your environment within days: organisation, projects, roles, AI policy and the training. Then the first project can get going.
One price per organisation a month, not per user: €175 for up to 10 employees, €350 for up to 25, above that on request. See how the price is built up.
We show it with fictitious client files from your sector: upload, detection, review, search and the connection with your AI assistant. Afterwards you'll know exactly what your team can use safely.
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