Build and operate AI with safeguards at each step
Créer, tester et exploiter une IA avec des garanties
Suivez les étapes et les preuves à conserver selon les règles applicables au Royaume-Uni et dans l’Union européenne. Chaque autorisation doit préciser l’usage, la version et le public concernés ; les étapes anglaises donnent les conditions détaillées.
English stays visible. The companion summaries explain the same UK and EU workflow; their language does not change the legal jurisdiction.
Choose reading language
01 · Choose what AI is allowed to do
Définir ce que l’IA peut faire
Décrivez une tâche, ses données, son public, ses lieux et ses conséquences, puis comparez travail manuel, API, recherche documentaire et entraînement. Fixez les usages exclus et le relais humain ; suspendez un essai réel si une interdiction ou l’organisation responsable reste incertaine.
When Pre-seed, seed, change · Lead Founder and product lead
Do this
Describe one task, input, audience, location and consequence. Compare a manual process, bought API, retrieval from approved documents, fine-tuning and training from scratch. Choose the smallest option that meets the need.
Safeguards to apply
Set forbidden uses, limits on autonomous action and a route to a person. Identify controller/processor roles for each purpose and EU AI Act roles and scope. Screen prohibited use, significant decisions and sector rules.
Evidence and a useful test
Draw one input-to-deletion map. Ask a colleague to describe exactly what the AI may do and who can stop it. Keep the version and decision record.
Pause or reopen if
Unresolved prohibition, unclear responsible organisation or no safe fallback. Reopen when a draft suggestion becomes a payment, rejection or other consequential action.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · UKGDPR · AIA2 · AIA5 · AIA25 · NCSC02 · Clear the records and rights
Vérifier les données et les droits
Distinguez entraînement, ajustement fin, recherche, évaluation et affichage des résultats, puis vérifiez provenance, licences, confidentialité et fondements du traitement. Réduisez les données sensibles et celles concernant des personnes vulnérables, et terminez l’analyse d’impact ou la consultation préalable requise avant le traitement réel.
When Before real data · Lead Data lead and privacy lead
Do this
Inventory each dataset, attachment, label, prompt and intended reuse. Separate training, fine-tuning, retrieval, evaluation and output display. Identify collection authority, licence, confidentiality, Article 6 basis and additional conditions where needed.
Safeguards to apply
Check health, uniquely identifying biometrics, genetic and other Article 9 information, Article 10 records, children and people at heightened risk. Remove unnecessary fields. Screen and complete a required DPIA before processing; consult the authority first if high residual risk remains.
Evidence and a useful test
Trace one sample back to lawful provenance. Test that an excluded medical attachment cannot enter logs, retrieval or the training export. Record national lists and consultation decisions.
Pause or reopen if
A necessary permission or legal condition is missing, a required DPIA is incomplete, or unresolved high residual risk requires prior consultation.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · UKGDPR · CNIL · ICOAI · EDPB2803 · Configure the cloud you actually buy
Configurer le service cloud acheté
Identifiez l’entité contractante, l’offre, la région, les sous-traitants ultérieurs et les flux de requêtes, journaux, télémétrie, assistance et sauvegardes. Utilisez des comptes administrateurs individuels et des accès minimaux, vérifiez les transferts et testez qu’un stockage privé reste inaccessible au public.
When Procurement and hosting · Lead Technical lead and procurement
Do this
Name the contracting entity, product, paid plan, region and subprocessors. Map where prompts, files, weights, logs, telemetry, support and backups go, including disaster recovery and remote access. Set the division of responsibility between supplier and company.
Safeguards to apply
Use individual admin accounts, strong authentication, least privilege, restricted storage, encryption and managed secrets. Assess the actual transfer path, supplier role and applicable mechanism. A location selection alone leaves questions about other services and access.
Evidence and a useful test
Retain dated terms, subprocessor list, configuration export, transfer assessment and owner. Test a private object with an unauthenticated request and demonstrate that a developer cannot read production records without approval.
Pause or reopen if
Unknown material data paths, publicly readable private storage, uncontrolled admin access, or missing required processor/transfer terms.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · UKGDPR · CLOUD · ICO28 · TRANSFER04 · Put a controlled service between your app and the API
Encadrer les appels à l’API
Conservez les secrets côté serveur, contrôlez les droits sur le client, l’objet et l’action à chaque requête, et limitez durée, entrées et coût. Avec des comptes fictifs, testez accès indu, sortie malveillante et répétition d’une requête ; bloquez le déploiement si un dossier est divulgué ou un remboursement dupliqué.
When Build · Lead Engineering and security
Do this
Keep provider secrets on the server. Authenticate the user and independently enforce tenant, object and tool permissions on every request. Limit inputs, outputs, spend and execution time. Record provider model and configuration.
Safeguards to apply
Treat retrieved text, model output and external callbacks as untrusted. Validate output before rendering or execution. Use safe rendering, destination allowlists, signed callbacks where supported, replay protection and idempotency for consequential actions. Redact telemetry and debugging output.
Evidence and a useful test
Use fictional accounts A and B. Try a B document ID as A. Re-send a test request and confirm no duplicate refund. Rotate a test key, deny a forbidden destination and inspect an actual error log for secrets.
Pause or reopen if
A client can choose its own unverified tenant ID, model text can trigger an unauthorised tool, an exposed secret is live, or retry can duplicate a consequential action.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · UKGDPR · NCSC · OWASPAPI05 · Constrain retrieval and indexing
Limiter la recherche et l’indexation
Indexez seulement les sources approuvées, avec responsable, droits et expiration, et contrôlez les accès avant la recherche et toute action ultérieure. Testez les frontières entre clients dans le dialogue, les extraits et les exports, puis vérifiez le retrait des index et caches selon le délai de suppression approuvé.
When Build or add company knowledge · Lead Engineering and data owner
Do this
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) finds documents and gives excerpts to a model. Index only approved sources with an owner, permission, expiry and access rule. Enforce those rules before retrieval and again for any onward action.
Safeguards to apply
Keep customer boundaries in the storage and query controls. Treat embeddings, snippets, caches and file names as potentially sensitive. Remove hidden text and secrets. Test what happens after a document is deleted or a person loses access.
Evidence and a useful test
With fictional markers, verify that A cannot retrieve B through search, chat, citations or export. Delete one source, refresh its index and cache, then confirm it is no longer retrievable within the approved deletion timetable.
Pause or reopen if
Cross-customer retrieval, unknown source rights, stale revoked content, or a document instruction capable of changing tool permissions.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · EDPB28 · NCSC06 · Approve the training run before it starts
Autoriser l’entraînement avant son lancement
Justifiez le besoin, figez les versions licites des données et du modèle, et limitez l’accès aux annotations, poids, points de contrôle et journaux. Séparez entraînement et évaluation, testez empoisonnement, mémorisation et extraction, et suspendez le travail si la provenance ou une exposition sensible reste irrésolue.
When Train or fine-tune · Lead ML lead, data lead and legal reviewer
Do this
State what training changes and why an existing model or retrieval is inadequate. Freeze a lawful dataset version, licence and model version. Document filters, labels, human annotation access, compute and data locations. Keep training and evaluation records separate, and split by person, entity or time where needed to prevent leakage.
Safeguards to apply
Test poisoning, memorisation, extraction, unfair errors, secrecy and ability to honour rights. Restrict weights, checkpoints, adapters and experiment logs. Verify code and dependencies before loading. Record actual rights and practical deletion limits. Reassess EU model-provider and system-provider roles when modifying or publishing.
Evidence and a useful test
Retain hashes, source permissions, sampling method, held-out tests, annotation controls and model card. Run controlled synthetic-marker extraction tests. Record weaknesses and residual uncertainty, including why a pass is insufficient to establish anonymity.
Pause or reopen if
Unlawful or untraceable inputs, evaluation contamination, unexplained sensitive-data memorisation, unresolved high-risk processing, or publication beyond the assessed rights and role.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · CNIL · EDPB28 · ICOAI · GPAI · NCSC07 · Evaluate and authorise red-team tests
Évaluer hors ligne et autoriser les tests adversariaux
Mettez le service assemblé à l’épreuve avec un jeu indépendant, notamment instructions documentaires, citations trompeuses, langues, pannes et limites d’accès. Obtenez les autorisations nécessaires, fixez périmètre, budget et signal d’arrêt, protégez les preuves et recommencez avec de nouveaux cas après correction.
When Offline validation, before live trial · Lead Security lead and authorised tester
Do this
First test the exact assembled service on held-out fictional or lawfully authorised records. Have a checker challenge unsafe requests, document instructions, customer boundaries, data extraction, misleading citations, long inputs, languages, outages and tool permissions.
Safeguards to apply
Set scope and written authority for each asset, time, tester, method, data and recipient. Get necessary cloud/SaaS permission. Set rate and spend limits, stop signal, evidence security and a process for unexpected real data. Test actual permissions and interfaces as well as the model.
Evidence and a useful test
Keep scenario, expected result, observed result, severity, evidence ID, defect owner and clean-version retest. Include false negatives and false positives with denominators and group context. Use a distinct challenge set after repair.
Pause or reopen if
Unauthorised target, real data exposure or service disruption outside scope, cross-tenant disclosure, critical uncontained defect or no independent check of a serious risk.
Working documents and sources
NCSC · CMA · GDPR08 · Plan A/B testing before assignment
Préparer le test A/B avant l’affectation
Définissez la question, les versions, l’unité d’affectation, l’échantillon, la durée et les mesures de bénéfice et de préjudice avant l’essai réel. Vérifiez séparément fondement juridique, information, analyse d’impact et règles d’accès au terminal ; suspendez le test si une garantie manque ou un seuil d’arrêt est atteint.
When Controlled live trial · Lead Product experiment owner and privacy lead
Do this
Define the question, version A and B, intended sample, assignment unit, exposure cap, duration, outcome, harm measures and analysis plan. A shadow test can check a new system without allowing its output to affect the person, but still requires a lawful data route.
Safeguards to apply
Check GDPR purpose, basis, notice and DPIA. Assess device storage/access separately under UK PECR or the relevant EU national rule. Check any narrow exception and its conditions. Keep safeguards for all groups, minimise identifiers and provide appropriate objection or withdrawal routes.
Evidence and a useful test
Before launch record eligibility, power or precision rationale, randomisation, exclusions and stop rules. Track harm, missing outcomes and complaints alongside benefit. Show counts and uncertainty; an inconclusive small sample stays inconclusive.
Pause or reopen if
Missing applicable notice, consent or exception conditions, unsafe effect on a person, material imbalance, outcome leakage, breached stop rule or collecting sensitive traits without a lawful route.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · PECR · ICOAB · EPRIV09 · Approve the exact release and practise recovery
Autoriser la version exacte à publier
Vérifiez version, offre fournisseur, usages, informations, preuves publicitaires et conditions sectorielles, puis limitez le premier public. Autorisez sur pièces et répétez arrêt, retour au service sûr et appel d’astreinte ; attendez si une condition ou un nouveau test critique reste ouvert.
When Pre-launch and launch · Lead Accountable founder and release lead
Do this
Release the tested version, configuration, provider plan and permitted uses. Verify relevant legal notices, claims evidence, sector conditions, applicable EU AI Act duties and the incident route. Start within a bounded audience and prove rollback.
Safeguards to apply
Separate test and production, restrict deployment and administrative changes, verify build and dependencies, protect production credentials and approve who may enable an automatic action. Set alerts for disclosure, unsafe outputs, failed handoff, latency and costs.
Evidence and a useful test
Use the sign-off form. Record evidence IDs, limits and named owners. Practise switching back to the prior safe service and contacting the duty lead. Conditional approval requires its safeguards already to be operating.
Pause or reopen if
A prerequisite, authorisation or critical retest remains open, no one can stop the service, or the release differs materially from the tested version.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · NCSC · AIA25 · AIA5010 · Monitor the system and act on change
Surveiller et réexaminer les changements
Suivez erreurs, urgences manquées, corrections humaines, plaintes, coûts et changements du fournisseur avant d’élargir l’usage. Limitez les journaux et leur conservation ; en cas de violation suspectée, contenez le dommage et évaluez séparément les obligations du sous-traitant, du responsable et l’information des personnes.
When Operate and scale · Lead Operations with privacy and engineering deputies
Do this
Monitor sampled outputs, complaints, urgent misses, overrides, retrieval failures, drift, spend and provider changes. Track by relevant language and context without unjustified sensitive-data collection. Reassess a new model, market, audience, supplier term or purpose before extending approval.
Safeguards to apply
Limit logging to necessary evidence with defined access and retention. Link rights requests to prompts, outputs, scores, source records and suppliers. On a suspected breach, contain, preserve evidence and promptly assess roles and notification. A processor and controller have different duties and awareness times.
Evidence and a useful test
Keep a change and incident log with decisions. Drill a weekend event and verify secure escalation. The controller records each personal data breach and the reporting decision; assess regulator and affected-person thresholds separately.
Pause or reopen if
Uncontained serious incident, repeated harm beyond threshold, vendor reuse or transfer change, ineffective human review or a new use beyond approval.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · UKGDPR · EDPBBREACH · ICOBREACH · NCSC11 · Prove portability and lawful retirement
Prouver la sauvegarde et la sortie
Testez export lisible et restauration avant de devenir dépendant, en recensant données, modèles, index, caches, copies fournisseur et sauvegardes. Réappliquez suppressions et retraits d’accès après restauration, respectez les conservations légales et vérifiez les droits de transfert et le gardien des dossiers avant vente ou fermeture.
When Back up, exit, sell or close · Lead Founder, operations and deal lead
Do this
Inventory exports, source records, weights, indexes, caches, logs, supplier copies and backups. Agree recovery and retention requirements based on business consequences. Test export to a usable format before dependence grows.
Safeguards to apply
Keep versioned backups in a separate security boundary appropriate to risk. Restrict restoration, reapply deletions and access revocations, preserve lawful holds and revoke secrets. Check licences, confidentiality, controller changes, contracts and approvals before sharing with a buyer or transferring assets.
Evidence and a useful test
Restore a fictional sample and verify access rules, excluded/deleted records and service integrity. Record supplier return/deletion evidence, unresolved copies, remaining contact and obligations.
Pause or reopen if
Export cannot be read, restore revives deleted information into ordinary use, the buyer lacks permission for the proposed transfer, or closure has no records custodian.
Working documents and sources
GDPR · UKGDPR · CLOUD · ICO28 · ICOERASEToto-Rex can make mistakes. Everything here is general information, not legal advice: check the primary source, and take advice from a qualified professional before you act.