Shadow AI at work: your team already uses AI, just without your approval.
Your team uses ChatGPT and other services on personal accounts because it makes work easier. The trouble starts when customer data, contracts or internal figures end up in accounts nobody at the company manages. Datenmassiv AI gives companies an approved alternative: one AI workspace, one contract, AI models in EU regions by default.
A privacy setting in a personal account isn’t enough.
In ChatGPT, it controls whether your inputs are used for training. Who has access, where data is processed and which contract applies are left open.
| Question | Personal account | Your company’s access |
|---|---|---|
| Who has access? | Only the individual. Your company can’t see what gets entered and can’t revoke access. | You decide who has access, and you revoke it when someone leaves. |
| Where is data processed? | The provider decides. Your company has no say. | It’s set out in the contract with the provider your company chooses. |
| Which contract applies? | The terms of use between the individual and the provider. Your company has no contract at all. | A contract between your company and the provider, plus a data processing agreement. |
Three steps to managed AI use.
One approved tool
A tool that covers the tasks your team actually has, so nobody needs to fall back on a personal account.
A short policy
What may go into the AI and what may not. DATENMASSIV GmbH describes what such a policy based on data classes can look like in the article AI governance for SMEs (in German).
A contract
A data processing agreement with a provider that tells you where your data is processed.
What Datenmassiv AI brings to the table.
Datenmassiv AI puts chat, knowledge bases, agents, workflows, transcription and website chatbots under one login and one data processing agreement with DATENMASSIV GmbH in Ulm, Germany. AI models run in EU regions by default, and roles control who on your team can do what. Plans start at €24 per user per month, excl. VAT.
Shadow AI: frequently asked questions
Is it illegal to use a personal ChatGPT account for work?
In the EU, no law bans ChatGPT as such. Whether its use is allowed depends on your internal rules and on what data gets entered. Under the GDPR, personal data needs a legal basis, and if a service processes it on your company’s behalf, you need a data processing agreement. A personal account is not a contract with your company. For your specific case, your data protection officer is the right person to ask.
Is banning ChatGPT enough?
A ban doesn’t answer the question of what your team should use to get the work done instead. Without an approved tool, usage easily moves to where nobody sees it. Approved access with a short policy answers that question.
How does setup work?
You request access through the form. DATENMASSIV GmbH gets in touch, sets up your organization and turns on the tools. You start with one task, and your team signs in without a password, using a link sent by email.
Give your team an approved way to use AI.
Datenmassiv AI comes with a guided start: request access, and DATENMASSIV GmbH in Ulm gets in touch personally, sets up your organization and supports your first steps.