Grok: what the sources say
xAI · United States
Profile last reviewed 31 May 2026. This record reflects the guide as published; check tautoru.ai/ai/tools/grok for the current version.
What this record is. A dated summary of what xAI’s own terms and the applicable New Zealand rules say about putting different kinds of information into Grok, on each of its plans. Each entry links to the primary source it is drawn from.
What it is not. It is not legal advice, and it is not a certificate that any particular use is safe or approved. It records what the sources say; whether a given use is appropriate for your matter is your own judgment, on your own facts, and — where the stakes warrant it — a question for you and your own advisers. The colours summarise sources; they are not Tautoru’s permission.
The position, by kind of information
1. Public information
Material already published to the world and under no restriction: reported case law, statutes and regulations, regulator and government guidance, public company filings, and published writing. One caveat decides the edge cases — information being publicly available does not take it outside the Privacy Act. A public register full of named individuals is still personal information; treat bulk or re-identifiable personal data as category 5, not as category 1.
Public information carries no confidentiality or privacy constraint, so even though consumer Grok trains on inputs, there is no legal risk for this material; the only live question is accuracy. Permitted on consumer Grok.
Sources: X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) (as at 31 May 2026)
No confidentiality or privacy constraint; the Enterprise agreement does not train on your content. The live question is accuracy.
Sources: xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) (as at 31 May 2026)
No constraint; the API does not train on your content without permission. The live question is accuracy.
Sources: xAI Privacy Policy (as at 31 May 2026)
2. Internal non-confidential
Material that is neither public nor commercially confidential, and not about any identifiable person: blank templates and precedents, general know-how, and truly hypothetical scenarios.
Low-sensitivity internal material with no confidentiality or privacy constraint; permitted on consumer Grok. (Anything actually confidential belongs in categories 3 and up.)
Sources: X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) (as at 31 May 2026)
Low-sensitivity internal material; the Enterprise agreement does not train on your content.
Sources: xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) (as at 31 May 2026)
Low-sensitivity internal material; the API does not train on your content without permission.
Sources: xAI Privacy Policy (as at 31 May 2026)
3. Internal confidential (non-privileged)
Confidential information that is not legally privileged — whether it is your customer’s, client’s or a third party’s. It covers client identity and retainer terms, deal and business information, and anything imparted in confidence (by contract, by undertaking, or by the circumstances). If the material is also privileged, use category 4; if you are unsure whether it is confidential, treat it as if it is.
Consumer Grok is the strongest red flag among the consumer chat tools. Inside X it trains on your prompts and your public X activity by default, under a broad worldwide, sub-licensable licence, and the opt-out is buried and not retroactive; on grok.com / the apps the NZ training default is contested. Under our uncertainty rule we treat consumer Grok as training-by-default and show no false green: do not put internal-confidential material into consumer Grok. Use the xAI API or an Enterprise agreement instead.
Sources: X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) (as at 31 May 2026); About Grok — data use & training opt-out (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Terms of Service (consumer) (as at 31 May 2026); Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
The xAI Enterprise agreement does not train on your content without permission and offers retention controls and ZDR, so the live constraint is your duty of confidence — client authority or adequate safeguards — not the tool.
Sources: xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
The API does not train on your content without permission and defaults to roughly 30-day retention; the duty of confidence still requires authority or safeguards.
Sources: xAI Privacy Policy (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
4. Legally privileged
Material attracting legal advice privilege or litigation privilege — a subset of confidential information, and the most protected. Privilege belongs to the client, not the lawyer. Whether putting it into a third-party tool affects privilege turns on confidentiality and waiver, addressed in each tool profile and in our guidance; it is not a foregone conclusion. Whether a given document is privileged at all is a question for a qualified lawyer — the safe course is precautionary: if it could be privileged, proceed as if it is.
Consumer Grok trains on your inputs by default and, on X, licenses your content broadly — it is not a confidential channel, so feeding privileged material into it is the kind of voluntary disclosure that risks waiver (Evidence Act s 65) and breaches the duty of confidence. Do not put privileged material into consumer Grok; use the API or an Enterprise agreement, where no-training terms apply.
Sources: X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) (as at 31 May 2026); About Grok — data use & training opt-out (as at 31 May 2026); Evidence Act 2006, s 65 (Waiver) (as at 31 May 2026); B v Auckland District Law Society [2003] UKPC 38, [2003] 2 AC 736 (as at 31 May 2026)
The Enterprise agreement does not train on your content, so confidential use does not waive privilege (s 65; B v ADLS). Amber, not green, because privileged work warrants a deliberate protocol and client authority.
Sources: xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) (as at 31 May 2026); Evidence Act 2006, s 65 (Waiver) (as at 31 May 2026); B v Auckland District Law Society [2003] UKPC 38, [2003] 2 AC 736 (as at 31 May 2026); Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
The API does not train on inputs without permission and can run with Zero Data Retention; confidential use does not waive privilege. The product-level safeguards are yours to configure.
Sources: xAI Privacy Policy (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Evidence Act 2006, s 65 (Waiver) (as at 31 May 2026); B v Auckland District Law Society [2003] UKPC 38, [2003] 2 AC 736 (as at 31 May 2026)
5. Personal information (Privacy Act 2020)
Personal information means any data about an identifiable living individual. Explicit names are not required. Contextual details alone can identify a client, witness, or opposing party. Inputting this data into AI tools can trigger strict compliance rules. Under Section 11 of the Privacy Act 2020, sending personal data to an overseas cloud service provider solely for processing or safe custody on your behalf is not usually treated as a “disclosure”. You remain responsible for it. The moment an AI provider’s terms allow them to use your inputs for their own purposes (such as training their models), it becomes an official disclosure to an overseas agency, and can trigger information privacy principle 12.
Consumer Grok trains on your inputs by default (and, on X, on your public activity), so personal information put in is used for the provider's own purposes — a cross-border disclosure risk under IPP 12 with no comparable-safeguards footing, and the opt-out is buried and not retroactive. Do not put personal information into consumer Grok; use the API or Enterprise tier.
Sources: X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) (as at 31 May 2026); About Grok — data use & training opt-out (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026)
Cross-border risk under IPP 12 — no training without permission means the provider is not using the data for its own purposes, and the xAI DPA (Data Processing Agreement/Addendum) supports the comparable-safeguards test. No NZ/AU region. Record the basis.
Sources: xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026)
Cross-border risk under IPP 12; no training without permission means the provider is not using the data for its own purposes, with the DPA and Zero Data Retention supporting compliance. Record the basis.
Sources: xAI Privacy Policy (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026)
6. Sensitive personal information
Personal information whose misuse carries a heightened risk of harm. New Zealand’s Privacy Act does not define a separate “sensitive” class as the GDPR does in Europe, but in practice this material warrants extra care, senior approval and a privacy impact assessment: health and mental-health information, biometric data (a Biometric Processing Privacy Code applies from 3 August 2026), financial details, criminal history, and information about ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation or immigration status. Health information in particular requires a significantly higher standard of protection than ordinary personal information.
As for ordinary personal information, but more so: consumer Grok trains by default and licenses X content broadly, so sensitive personal information must not be put into it. Use the API or an Enterprise agreement.
Sources: X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) (as at 31 May 2026); About Grok — data use & training opt-out (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026)
No training without permission;the DPA and retention controls support sensitive data under a deliberate protocol. IPP 12 risk mitigated by no training on inputs.
Sources: xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026); Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
No training without permission;Zero Data Retention and configurable controls suit sensitive data in an engineered workflow with your own safeguards. IPP 12 risk mitigated by no training on inputs.
Sources: xAI Privacy Policy (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026)
7. Children’s information
Information about a child or young person. It is also personal information (category 5), and often sensitive (category 6), and it carries additional care because of children’s vulnerability and the weight given to their best interests. Treat it as needing the strongest justification, even where a rule does not strictly compel it.
Consumer Grok trains by default and licenses X content broadly; children's information carries heightened sensitivity and must not be put into it. Use the API or an Enterprise agreement.
Sources: X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) (as at 31 May 2026); About Grok — data use & training opt-out (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026)
No training without permission;the DPA and retention controls support children's information under a protocol. IPP 12 risk mitigated by no training on inputs.
Sources: xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026); Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
No training without permission;configurable with Zero Data Retention; IPP 12 risk mitigated by no training on inputs; controls are yours to build.
Sources: xAI Privacy Policy (as at 31 May 2026); xAI Data Processing Addendum (as at 31 May 2026); Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) (as at 31 May 2026)
8. Court-protected material
Material under an independent legal restriction that binds regardless of the tool or plan: name suppression and non-publication orders, confidentiality and sealing orders, statutory automatic suppression (for example in some Family, care-of-children and youth proceedings), and undertakings you have given to the other side. The restriction is the bar, not the technology — if any order or undertaking might apply, proceed with extreme caution.
Suppression orders, confidentiality orders, sealed material and undertakings are independent legal restrictions that can apply regardless of tool or plan; the NZ Law Society's AI guidance is explicit that suppressed material must not be entered into AI tools.
Sources: Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
An independent legal restriction (suppression, confidentiality order, sealing, undertaking) applies regardless of tool or plan.
Sources: Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
An independent legal restriction (suppression, confidentiality order, sealing, undertaking) applies regardless of tool or plan.
Sources: Generative AI guidance for lawyers (as at 31 May 2026)
What the colours mean
- GreenBased on current provider terms and standard New Zealand frameworks, using this information on this plan is unlikely to breach primary regulatory or privacy restrictions. However, users must still consider any case-specific confidentiality obligations. Sources linked.
- AmberUse is acceptable only if specific safeguards are active. This workflow demands explicit settings adjustments, precise redactions, or specific contractual coverage to remain within legal limits. Sources are linked below.
- RedUsing this information on this plan will breach primary New Zealand regulatory or privacy limits. Proceeding requires a fundamental structural change — such as upgrading to a secure enterprise tier, switching vendors, or utilising a local, self-hosted deployment. Sources linked.
- BlackAn independent restriction — court order, suppression order, statutory prohibition, undertaking — applies regardless of tool or plan.
- Not yet assessedWe have not yet established a sourced position for this cell. It carries no colour rather than a guess (Policy §5.3).
Sources cited in this record
- X Privacy Policy (governs Grok on X) — X Corp.. Perma.cc record (as at 31 May 2026).
- xAI Terms of Service (enterprise) — xAI. Perma.cc record (as at 31 May 2026).
- xAI Privacy Policy — xAI. Perma.cc record (as at 31 May 2026).
- About Grok — data use & training opt-out — X / xAI. Perma.cc record (as at 31 May 2026).
- xAI Terms of Service (consumer) — xAI. Perma.cc record (as at 31 May 2026).
- Generative AI guidance for lawyers — New Zealand Law Society. source (as at 31 May 2026).
- xAI Data Processing Addendum — xAI. Perma.cc record (as at 31 May 2026).
- Evidence Act 2006, s 65 (Waiver) — New Zealand Legislation. source (as at 31 May 2026).
- B v Auckland District Law Society [2003] UKPC 38, [2003] 2 AC 736 — Privy Council (on appeal from New Zealand). source (as at 31 May 2026).
- Privacy Act 2020 — IPP 12 (Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand) — Office of the Privacy Commissioner. source (as at 31 May 2026).