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The data rights checklist to run before any AI licensing deal

A checklist of the rights and privacy questions to answer before licensing company data to AI buyers: customer contracts, privacy notices, employee data, third-party content, platform terms and deal terms.

ERIC PIWOWAR — MANAGING DIRECTOR2 MIN READLINKEDIN ↗
The short answer

Before licensing data to an AI buyer, confirm the company owns or controls it, that customer contracts and privacy notices allow the use, how employee and personal data will be removed or protected, whether third-party content is included, and what the license allows the buyer to do. Review every item with counsel before any data is shared.

The checklist

  • Ownership. Is the data yours, or held on behalf of customers?
  • Customer contracts. Do agreements restrict use of customer data beyond providing the service?
  • Privacy notices. What did you tell customers and users about how their data would be used?
  • Employee data. How will names, messages and HR records be excluded or masked?
  • Personal information. What is the plan for removing or protecting it, and who verifies it?
  • Third-party content. Do files include material others own, such as vendor documents or licensed content?
  • Platform terms. Do the terms of the software you use limit bulk export or reuse?
  • Regulated data. Is any of it health, financial or children's data with extra rules?
  • License scope. Training, evaluation or both? Exclusive or not? For how long?
  • Downstream use. Can the buyer resell or share the data?
  • Deletion and audit. What happens to the data when the license ends?
The rights review, item by item
An example review: most items clear, two need work. Flags are resolved with counsel before any sample is shared.

Why this comes first

Rights problems are the most common reason a data deal stalls or dies, and they are cheaper to find before a buyer is involved. Privacy objections were at the center of the high-profile sales covered in our news analysis of AI labs buying from dead startups.

Keep reading

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