Using AI Responsibly: Privacy Best Practices for Australian Businesses

AI is now part of everyday business—helping with customer service, marketing, data analysis and more. But if you’re using AI, you need to make sure you protect the privacy of your customers, staff, and suppliers.

The Australian Government has published clear AI privacy guidelines that businesses can adopt as best practice. Here’s how to put them into action.

1. Only Use the Data You Really Need

• Don’t put unnecessary personal or sensitive data into AI tools—especially public ones.

• If you can, use made-up or anonymised data for testing.

• Always have a clear reason for collecting personal information, and only keep it for as long as you need it.

2. Be Open About Your AI Use

• Tell your customers and staff when AI is being used—whether it’s a chatbot, decision-making tool, or analysis system.

• Update your privacy policy to explain how AI is used and what happens to the data.

• Give people an easy way to ask questions or opt out.

3. Choose AI Tools Carefully

• Check what the AI provider does with your data. Do they store it? Share it? Use it to train other models?

• Look for security features like encryption, access controls, and audit logs.

• Use trusted providers with a track record in privacy and compliance.

4. Keep a Human in the Loop

• AI should support decisions, not replace human judgement—especially when the outcome affects people’s rights, finances, or well-being.

• Have a process for reviewing AI outputs for fairness, accuracy, and bias.

5. Review and Improve Regularly

• Schedule privacy reviews and AI audits at least annually.

• Train your team on safe AI use and privacy awareness.

• Stay up-to-date with changes to privacy laws and technology.

Some Bonus Prompt Engineering Ideas for Business Users

Here are some fun, high-impact prompt ideas you can try—none involve sensitive data, and all can spark useful business outcomes:

1. Role Play for Perspective: “Pretend you are a futurist keynote speaker in 2035. Summarise the three biggest changes in my industry and how businesses like mine adapted.”

2. Idea Remix: “Take this list of my last five marketing campaigns and remix them into unexpected formats—like poems, headlines, or riddles.”

3. Explainer for Any Audience: “Explain cloud computing using a cooking analogy, suitable for a 10-year-old, then rewrite it for a boardroom of executives.”

4. The Devil’s Advocate: “Here’s my new product pitch—critique it as if you were my toughest competitor.”

5. Step-by-Step Masterplan: “I want to launch a subscription box for small office snacks. Give me a month-by-month launch plan, but make the tone fun and a bit cheeky.”

6. The Reverse Engineer: “Analyse this competitor’s website and guess the three main customer problems they’re solving. Suggest how I could do it better.”

The Bottom Line

By following these five privacy steps, you can use AI to grow your business while keeping trust high and privacy risks low. Pairing that with clever prompt engineering can turn AI into a creative, strategic partner—without compromising security.

At James Anthony Consulting, we help businesses choose the right AI tools, build safe processes, and get the most out of them.