AI terms of service decoder
AI provider terms of service are long, and the clauses that actually affect your privacy — whether they train on your prompts, how long they keep your data, who they share it with — are buried among boilerplate. The AI terms of service decoder pulls out those clauses for major providers and restates them in plain English, with the all-important distinction between consumer and enterprise plans made explicit.
How it works
Pick a provider and the tool shows a structured breakdown across the dimensions that matter most: training on your data, retention periods, third-party sharing, and how consumer plans differ from business, enterprise, and API tiers. Each summary reflects the provider’s common posture as of the update date. Because terms change frequently, every section points you back to the question you should confirm on the provider’s live policy page before you rely on it.
The four dimensions that actually matter
Training on your data
This is the clause most people want to understand: does the provider use your conversations to improve their models? The answer typically splits sharply by plan tier. Consumer and free plans often default to training-on; business, enterprise, and API plans typically default to training-off. Some providers allow users to opt out even on consumer plans — but the opt-out is buried in settings.
Retention period
Even when training is disabled, providers generally keep data for some period for abuse monitoring and safety review. Consumer plans may retain conversations for weeks; enterprise agreements can be configured for shorter windows or zero retention. Retention and training are separate settings — disabling one does not automatically affect the other.
Third-party sharing
Most providers do not sell conversation data, but they do share it with subprocessors — cloud infrastructure, moderation tools, safety systems. The ToS and DPA (for business plans) will list these. If your data includes sensitive client or employee information, this list matters.
Consumer versus enterprise differences
The gap between a free consumer account and a business plan is usually the largest privacy divide. Enterprise tiers typically add: training-off by default, configurable or zero retention, a signed Data Processing Agreement, confidentiality commitments, and (for some providers) custom data residency. If you process personal data professionally, you almost certainly need a business or enterprise plan.
Tips and notes
- Plan tier matters most. The single biggest privacy lever is usually whether you are on a consumer plan or a business/API plan.
- Opt-outs are not retroactive. Disabling training typically affects future data, not what was already collected.
- Retention can outlast training. Many providers keep data for abuse monitoring even when training is off.
- Always verify the live policy. This decoder is a map, not the territory — confirm specifics before making compliance decisions.