AI tools and client data
Is Slack AI safe for client data?
Short answer: Whether Slack AI is safe for client data turns on which plan your staff are on, which account they signed in with, and what you have told them they may put in it — not on the product itself. On Free and Pro and on Business+ and Enterprise+, Slack says it does not train its models on the messages in your workspace, by default. Every fact on this page is Slack's own, quoted from its own pages and dated, and where we did not find a statement this page says so rather than filling the gap. Obsidian Ridge's free 30-day AI security assessment shows which AI tools your staff actually use.
See which AI tools your staff usePlan by plan, in Slack’s own words
Search, thread summaries and channel recaps built into Slack. The material it reads is every message the workspace holds, which in a practice is where staff discuss clients by name without thinking of it as a record.
| What you are asking | Free and Pro | Business+ and Enterprise+ |
|---|---|---|
| Trains the vendor's models by default | No. Slack requires you to say yes first, which is a higher bar than an opt-out — and note it covers generative models specifically.“Slack will not use Customer Data to train generative AI models unless Customer provides affirmative opt-in consent.” source, read | No. Slack requires you to say yes first, which is a higher bar than an opt-out — and note it covers generative models specifically.“Slack will not use Customer Data to train generative AI models unless Customer provides affirmative opt-in consent.” source, read |
| How to turn training off | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. |
| How long data is kept | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. |
| What an admin can see or control | The decisions here sit with the workspace or org owner, including the opt-out below, which is an email rather than a setting.“To opt out, please have your Org or Workspace Owners or Primary Owner contact our Customer Experience team…” source, read | The decisions here sit with the workspace or org owner, including the opt-out below, which is an email rather than a setting.“To opt out, please have your Org or Workspace Owners or Primary Owner contact our Customer Experience team…” source, read |
| Single sign-on | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. |
| Business Associate Agreement | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. |
| Where the data is processed | Inside Slack. The model runs in Slack's own cloud or via an API, and Slack says the model provider never sees the content.“Customer Data stays in Slack’s trust boundary, and the providers of the LLM don’t have access to Customer Data.” source, read | Inside Slack. The model runs in Slack's own cloud or via an API, and Slack says the model provider never sees the content.“Customer Data stays in Slack’s trust boundary, and the providers of the LLM don’t have access to Customer Data.” source, read |
An empty cell is not a reassurance and not a criticism. "Not found in the pages we read." means the Slack pages listed under Sources, read on the dates shown, do not answer it — so there is nothing for us to repeat, and something for you to ask Slack before client information goes near it.
What this means for
The duty does not change because the tool is new. What changes is where the client information ends up.
- Law firms. A client confidence pasted into a personal account has left the firm’s control. Our law firm page sets out the duties we build evidence for; the decision here is whether a personal account may touch a client matter at all.
- Dental and medical practices. We didn't find a BAA statement in the pages listed below; ask Slack before any patient data goes in. See dental practices.
- CPA and accounting firms. Your written information security plan has to describe the tools people actually use, not the ones you approved. See accounting firms.
- Financial advisers. Client account data in a personal assistant is the exposure; see financial advisers.
- Software teams. A coding assistant reads the repository and can run commands, so the question is what it can reach, not what it was asked. See what AI agents on work laptops can reach.
How to tell which version your staff use
The plan is the whole answer, and you cannot tell from the outside. Three ways to find out, in order of how much they prove.
1. Ask
Quick, free, and incomplete. People forget the tool they installed once and the account they signed in with.
2. Look at the billing and the admin console
This finds what the business pays for. It does not find a personal account, which is the one that matters here.
3. Look on the computers
A tool somebody installed themselves never appears in an IT list. Obsidian Ridge’s free 30-day AI security assessment takes a quiet inventory for 30 days and shows what each tool could reach, then a CISSP goes through it with you. See the assessment, or read a sample set of findings.
Settings to check today
From Slack’s own documentation. Each one is a change somebody can make this afternoon.
- Send the global-model opt-out email. This is the one Slack does not give you a switch for, and it is the one that is on by default.“If you want to exclude your Customer Data from helping train Slack global models, you can opt out.” source, read
- Know what opting out costs, which is less than it sounds: your workspace keeps the benefit of the models, it just stops feeding them.“If you opt out, Customer Data on your workspace will only be used to improve the experience on your own workspace…” source, read
- Six words worth keeping for the next time a client asks whether another firm's Slack could surface your messages.“Data will not leak across workspaces.” source, read
Worth knowing
- This is the sentence the generative promise does not cover. Messages, content and files are analysed for Slack's predictive models by default.“To develop predictive models for features such as emoji and channel recommendations, our systems analyze Customer Data (e.g. messages, content, and files) submitted to Slack…” source, read
- Slack states the generative position twice, and this is the shorter form.“We do not develop generative AI models using Customer Data.” source, read
- The model behind Slack AI is not fine-tuned on your workspace and does not keep the request afterwards.“AI in Slack uses off-the-shelf LLMs where the models are not updated by and don’t in other ways retain Customer Data…” source, read
- Slack says its own staff cannot read the content that goes into model development, and that this is enforced technically rather than by policy.“When developing AI/ML models or otherwise analyzing Customer Data, Slack employees can’t access the underlying content.” source, read
Questions we get asked
Is Slack AI safe for client data?
Whether Slack AI is safe for client data turns on which plan your staff are on, which account they signed in with, and what you have told them they may put in it — not on the product itself.
On Free and Pro and on Business+ and Enterprise+, Slack says it does not train its models on the messages in your workspace, by default.
Every fact on this page is Slack's own, quoted from its own pages and dated, and where we did not find a statement this page says so rather than filling the gap.
Does Slack train its models on what we put into Slack AI?
On Free and Pro and on Business+ and Enterprise+, Slack says it does not train its models on the messages in your workspace, by default.
On Free and Pro, Business+ and Enterprise+: No. Slack requires you to say yes first, which is a higher bar than an opt-out — and note it covers generative models specifically.
Slack's own words: "Slack will not use Customer Data to train generative AI models unless Customer provides affirmative opt-in consent." (read 2026-11-03).
How long does Slack keep what we put into Slack AI?
On Free and Pro, Business+ and Enterprise+: Not found in the pages we read.
Can an administrator read what we put into Slack AI?
On Free and Pro, Business+ and Enterprise+: The decisions here sit with the workspace or org owner, including the opt-out below, which is an email rather than a setting.
Slack's own words: "To opt out, please have your Org or Workspace Owners or Primary Owner contact our Customer Experience team…" (read 2026-11-03).
Will Slack sign a Business Associate Agreement for Slack AI?
We didn't find a BAA statement in the pages listed below; ask Slack before any patient data goes in.
How do we find out which version of Slack AI our staff are using?
Look on the computers. A tool somebody installed themselves, or signed into with a personal account, does not appear in any IT list. Obsidian Ridge's free 30-day AI security assessment takes that inventory for 30 days and shows what each tool could reach.
Sources
Slack’s own pages, with the date each was read. Nothing on this page comes from anywhere else.
All 35 tools, side by side, or run the AI tool risk checker over the ones you know about.
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