How to secure AI access to financial and project data
Letting AI loose on your business numbers without risk? Six practical measures for business owners, from read-only connections to instant revocation.
By Auke Westra
Founder of DigiData
Short answer
Secure AI access to business data starts with six measures: release only the data that is needed, use read-only connections, never share passwords or exports, decide who may grant access, make sure you can revoke access instantly and know which party your data ends up with.
Why this matters
AI can save you a lot of time on questions about revenue, margins and projects. But financial and project data also contains customer names, amounts, employee hours and contract terms. The Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) has already warned about data breaches caused by employees pasting data into AI chatbots.
The good news: with six measures you can use AI safely on your own numbers.
1. Release only what is needed
A question about outstanding invoices does not need payroll data. Choose per connection which data the AI may see, and no more.
2. Choose read-only
An AI assistant should be able to analyse your numbers, but never change entries, invoices or contacts. Choose a connection that can only read.
3. Never share passwords or exports
Do not paste exports with customer data into a chat and never give an AI tool your password. Use a connection where you sign in and give permission, as with other business apps.
4. Decide who may grant access
Not every employee needs to be able to connect data to an AI tool. Agree who may do so, for example only the administrator or the finance lead.
5. Make sure you can revoke instantly
Someone changes roles or a project ends? You want to revoke access with one click, without depending on another system.
6. Know where your data ends up
If you use ChatGPT or Claude, a copy of your data goes to that provider under the terms of your plan there. Read does business data stay in the EU? for the differences.
How DigiData handles this for you
- Every connection is read-only
- You choose per connection which data the AI sees
- You sign in through DigiData; you never share passwords with AI tools
- An administrator decides who may connect an external AI assistant
- You revoke access with one click
- Your data is stored in the EU and never used for AI training
Want your data to stay entirely within DigiData? Use the DigiData AI agent instead of an external assistant. Also read how we secure MCP connections.
Checklist
- Which AI tools may we use, and with which account?
- Which data must never go into them?
- Who may connect data to an AI tool?
- How do we revoke access?
- Who checks answers before they go to a client or the board?
More tips for your team are in ChatGPT for business.
About Auke Westra
Founder of DigiData
Auke Westra is Founder of DigiData. He was responsible for clients' data and reporting and in 2025 began building an in-house data platform with his team. He writes about AI on business data, data definitions, Power BI and integrations.
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