PIPELINEGuide
Checklist: Preparing Data Protection and AI Compliance
What you should clarify before requesting quotes on data protection and AI compliance. The more of this is settled in advance, the more reliable the quotes will be.
Before deciding on AI compliance, a quick inventory is worthwhile: which process takes the most time, who will maintain the system later, and whether the necessary content is even available. The complete checklist is further below.
01 — Checklist
Clarify before the first quote
- What should improve? In one sentence, no jargon.
- How will you know? One number that should change.
- Who decides? One person, not a committee.
- What budget is available? A range is enough — it makes quotes comparable instead of arbitrary.
- By when? And what the deadline depends on.
- Which systems are involved? And who has access to them.
- What do you already have? Content, data, preliminary work — this reduces the cost.
02 — Participation
What we need from you
- A contact person who can make decisions — not just forward them.
- Access to the affected systems, in time and not on launch day.
- Real examples from daily business — the messier, the more useful for testing.
- Two to four hours for coordination, distributed over the project duration.
- An answer to the question of what success means. Without it, nothing can be assessed afterward.
03 — Questions
Questions you should ask
- What happens if the project becomes more expensive than estimated — who bears that?
- Who owns data, access, and, if developed, the source code?
- What does operation cost in the second and third year?
- What does the documentation we receive at the end look like?
- How would you measure whether the project was successful?
- Is there a case in which you would advise us against this?
04 — Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does this also apply to sole proprietorships?
Yes. The AI Act doesn't distinguish by company size, but by purpose and risk. Anyone with a chatbot on their website is affected — regardless of whether one or a hundred people work in the business.
Do AI-generated texts need to be labeled?
For content that is published and synthetically generated or substantially modified, yes. Purely internal use — research, drafts, summaries — typically does not trigger this obligation.
Do we need a data protection impact assessment?
Not generally. It becomes necessary when the processing is likely to pose a high risk to data subjects — such as extensive profiling. For an FAQ chatbot on a website, it's usually not required. We review this case by case and document the result in writing.
May we enter customer data into ChatGPT?
In the free version without contractual safeguards: no. With a business account, data processing agreement, and training excluded, it may be permissible — depending on what data is involved. Precisely this distinction belongs in the usage policy, because it's constantly relevant in daily operations.
What if we use multiple AI tools from different providers?
Each tool is assessed individually — provider, data processing, and risk class differ. The usage policy summarizes the results so no one has to look up each tool separately.
What does the EU AI Act specifically require of us?
For most businesses, it comes down to two things: transparency and competence. Transparency means people must recognize when they're speaking with an AI system or seeing AI-generated content — this has been in effect since August 2026. Competence means the people deploying such systems are adequately trained to do so. Both are documentable and achievable with manageable effort.
How often does the inventory need to be updated?
Whenever a new tool is introduced or the purpose of an existing one changes. An annual review as a minimum interval makes sense, even without a specific trigger.
05 — Next
Related pages
- Data protection and AI compliance — Overview
- Data protection and AI compliance — alternatives
- Data protection and AI compliance — implementation
- Data protection and AI compliance — common mistakes
- Data Protection and AI Compliance — Risks
- Data Protection and AI Compliance — Status 2026
- Data protection and AI compliance — integration
- Data Protection and AI Compliance — Small Businesses
- AI Consulting
- AI training
- AI chatbot
- All guides
Data protection and AI compliance by region
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