Data, privacy & security

A one-page AI policy for a small team

What to write down so everyone uses AI the same careful way.

5 min readPlain English

Read it in

In one sentence

A one-page AI policy says which tools your team may use, what must never be pasted in, and what always gets a person’s check before it goes out.

Think of it like…

Think of the note you leave a house sitter: which rooms to use, what stays locked, who to call if something breaks. One page on the fridge beats a binder nobody opens.

How it works

A useful policy answers five questions in plain words. Write it with the people who’ll use it, and keep it to one page.

1Approved toolsList the AI tools and plans people may use for work, and who administers each one.
2Never pasteName what never goes into an AI tool, such as passwords and card numbers, and what goes only into approved business plans, such as customer and staff details.
3Always checkSay what a person reviews before it’s used: anything sent to a customer, and any price, number, promise or contract wording.
4Ask firstList what needs the owner’s yes: new tools, anything customer-facing and anything that runs on its own.
5Owner and dateName one person who answers questions and keeps the page current, and a date to reread it, such as every quarter.

If customers ever deal with AI directly (a chat widget, a phone line), add a line on how you tell them.

Good at

Settling “can I paste this?” in seconds
Giving new hires a clear yes and no
Stopping the same mistake from happening twice

Bad at

Covering every case: that’s what the named owner is for
Enforcing itself: tool settings and habits do that
Staying current if nobody rereads it

Where you’ll see it at work

A new hire’s first week. At a plumbing firm, the office manager walks a new hire through the page in ten minutes, then shows them the approved assistant.
One line after one near miss. After an AI-drafted quote nearly went out with an old price, a print shop adds a line: every price is checked against the current price list.
A new tool request. A marketer at an online shop wants to try an AI image tool. The owner runs it past the page and says yes, with no customer photos.

Myth vs reality

Myth: “We’re too small to need an AI policy.”

Reality: Small teams need it most: one customer list pasted into the wrong tool is a big problem for a five-person business. One page, drafted in half an hour, is enough to start.