Data, Security & Governance
AI permissions, plug-ins, and integrations
Review what an AI tool can access, store, share, or change before enabling it.
5 min readGovernance
Workplace example
Email and file access
If a third-party AI plug-in asks for email and shared-file access, check whether it is approved, what data it can access, whether those permissions are necessary, and whether admin, security, or privacy review is required.
What this means
- •An AI plug-in or integration may ask for access to email, files, calendars, customer records, or internal systems.
- •The risk is not only the prompt. It is also what the connected tool can read, store, share, or act on.
- •Permission requests should be necessary for the business use case and approved through the right route.
Why it matters
- •Broad permissions can expose more information than the task requires.
- •Summarising a document still requires the same access controls as viewing it.
- •Unfamiliar third-party tools can create data, security, privacy, and compliance risk.
Common mistakes
- •Enabling a tool because the brand or interface looks professional.
- •Trying it with a small sample of work data before approval.
- •Assuming access controls are only a technical team concern.
What good judgement looks like
- •Check approval status before enabling an integration.
- •Review requested permissions against the actual use case.
- •Keep normal access permissions in place for internal AI assistants.
Try this at work
- •Pick one tool or plug-in you have seen.
- •Write what it asks to access.
- •Decide what approval or review would be required before use.
How this helps your reassessment
- •You know what to check before enabling an AI plug-in.
- •You understand that access permissions still matter when AI summarises content.
- •You avoid unfamiliar third-party services until approval and risk are clear.