An AI writing assistant can read text you submit or type wherever its software is active. For client emails, approve the tool and its data settings before use, restrict where it runs and remove identifying information from drafts. A browser extension or keyboard can reach text before you send the message.
What AI Writing Assistants Can Read
Writing assistants receive text through the document you submit, the field where you type or access granted to an app or extension. The boundary depends on the product and the permissions you give it.
| How the assistant works | Text it can reach | Brokerage example |
|---|---|---|
| Online proofreading page | Text pasted or uploaded into that service | A draft email copied out of the client record |
| Browser extension | Text on permitted websites, subject to its design and site compatibility | Webmail, CRM notes or lender portal forms |
| Desktop writing assistant | Text in supported applications where the assistant is active | An email draft in a desktop mail app |
| Third-party keyboard | Text handled by the selected keyboard and any supported surrounding context | A client message typed on a phone |
An email does not need to be sent for a writing assistant to process its draft. An assistant running inside the message field can analyse text as you write. Quoted replies and signatures can also contain information you did not intend to submit for proofreading.
Separate access from storage. Access determines what the tool can read. Its privacy policy, account settings and contract determine how that information is processed and kept. Turning model training off does not automatically stop processing or delete an existing document.
Is Grammarly Safe?
It depends on the content and account controls. Grammarly can suit redacted client email drafts when the brokerage approves its settings and limits where it runs. Keep it off fields containing client identifiers or financial records unless your approved arrangement expressly permits that processing.
Grammarly says it needs access to text while its product is active. Its exclusions for sensitive information, including passwords and card details, operate on a best-effort basis. The explanation of what Grammarly reads therefore does not replace your own redaction or access controls.
Training Settings Depend on the Account
Grammarly’s Product Improvement and Training control has different defaults for different accounts. Individual accounts start with training enabled. Multi-user accounts purchased through the website also start with it enabled, and an administrator can opt out for the organisation.
Grammarly says training is off by default for Enterprise-tier accounts, Education accounts and Pro or Business accounts purchased through Sales. A paid account alone does not establish that setting. Its training control guide explains the account distinctions.
For an individual Free or Premium account, open account privacy settings and turn Product Improvement and Training off. Single-user Pro uses the account’s data settings. For a multi-user website-purchased account, the administrator changes the organisation’s setting in data settings. Reopen the saved setting before authorising work use.
Storage and Business Controls
Documents saved in the Grammarly Editor stay there until deleted. Grammarly’s privacy and security FAQ also describes processing of other text and the service providers used for generative features. Its restrictions on those providers’ training do not mean Grammarly never processes or stores your draft.
Personalisation is another separate control. Grammarly’s Trust Center explains that tailored assistance can process and store information linked to your account. Disable unnecessary personalisation as part of the brokerage’s configuration.
Enterprise administrators can block website domains where Grammarly must not operate. The domain controls guide identifies that feature as part of Enterprise. Include client-record systems and lender portals in the exclusion policy. Staff using a desktop assistant must also review its application controls, because restricting a browser extension does not disable a separate desktop app.
Microsoft Editor and Built-In Assistants
Microsoft Editor and email apps’ built-in writing features can avoid adding another extension provider to the workflow. Their data handling still depends on the feature and the account. Built-in does not mean the text stays on your device.
Microsoft lists Editor among Microsoft 365 connected experiences that analyse content. Its connected experiences documentation also distinguishes basic Editor functionality available offline or with content-analysis experiences disabled. In those basic cases, Editor content is not sent to Microsoft.
Ask the brokerage’s administrator to choose the permitted connected experiences for the managed account. A local spelling check and a cloud rewrite are different processing arrangements, even when they appear in the same application. Keep the cloud feature disabled where your policy permits only local checking.
The standalone Microsoft Editor browser extensions retired in 2025 and no longer receive support or updates. Microsoft now directs users to writing assistance built into Edge. Remove the retired add-on rather than relying on an old extension as a privacy control, following Microsoft’s retirement notice.
In Gmail, Smart Compose uses machine learning to suggest wording while you type. Google’s Smart Compose settings let you turn writing suggestions and personalisation off separately. The broader smart feature controls govern how content and activity support features within Gmail and other products.
Keep those decisions within the brokerage’s managed mail account. Do not infer a personal account’s protection from the organisation’s agreement, or assume disabling one assistant disables every writing feature.
AI Keyboards and Browser Extensions
Keyboards and extensions with broad access create the largest exposure risk in this workflow because they can operate across otherwise separate client systems. A standalone proofreading page receives the text you put there. A widely enabled extension can remain active as you move from webmail to a loan application.
What the Extension Permissions Mean
Grammarly and QuillBot both request broad website access in their Chrome extension packages. These are examples of the access a writing tool can request, without implying that either sends every page to its servers.
| Extension | Requested website access | Consequence for client work |
|---|---|---|
| Grammarly | HTTP and HTTPS websites broadly | Its permitted scope can include webmail and client-record websites |
| QuillBot | Websites broadly, with page scripts running across supported pages | Selecting a short passage for a rewrite does not itself narrow the extension’s browser permission |
A warning about reading and changing website data covers more than correcting a sentence. Google’s extension permission explanation describes access to data on permitted pages. The permission establishes capability. It does not prove that the provider collects every item it could access.
In Chrome, open Manage extensions, select the extension’s Details and review Site access. Use On specific sites for an approved drafting destination instead of allowing every site. Google’s extension management instructions explain the controls. Check separate desktop assistants as well, then use dummy text to confirm the assistant stays inactive on excluded sites.
AI Keyboards on Phones
An AI keyboard handles typing in the apps where it is selected. If its AI feature sends text for server processing, that processing can include a draft that never reaches the recipient.
On iPhone, third-party keyboards have no network access by default. Full Access expands their permissions to allow network communication and sharing with their containing app, as Apple’s keyboard documentation explains. Granting that permission establishes what is possible, rather than proving that every keystroke is uploaded.
On Android, an installed input method handles text entry in the fields using it. Google’s input method documentation includes rules for handling password fields. An ordinary client email or loan note is not protected merely because a password field has different handling.
Use the brokerage-approved keyboard for client work. Leave an unapproved AI keyboard disabled, including its rewrite and personalisation features. A phone’s default keyboard choice is part of the client-data setup, even when staff installed it for personal messages.
Rules for Client Communications
Approve writing assistants by their access and data use, then give staff a short set of rules they can follow while drafting.
- Use only the approved account and tool. Record who owns its settings and who can approve an extension or keyboard change.
- Keep writing assistants off identity fields, passwords and one-time codes. Exclude tax file numbers, bank account numbers and loan account references. Also exclude addresses, income records, health information and detailed client file notes unless explicitly authorised.
- Redact before the assistant sees the text. Remove identifiers from quoted messages and signatures as well as the new draft. For general wording help, use a fictional client and omit the underlying financial records.
- Limit the tool to approved drafting locations. Keep client portals and the CRM excluded where the assistant has no approved purpose. Test those exclusions with dummy text after a setting changes.
- Review the rewritten meaning before sending or saving. Check loan figures and conditions against the original record. Reject a rewrite that adds an approval, guarantee or statement the broker has not established.
- Save the reviewed communication in the authorised client record. Delete unnecessary copies retained by the writing service under the brokerage’s procedure. Report accidental exposure to the nominated incident contact.
For an illustrative example, a broker writes, “We will submit your application after the remaining documents arrive.” A rewrite saying, “Your loan is approved once the documents arrive” changes the meaning. Keep the conditional submission wording and correct only its expression. Apply the same rule to file notes: clearer prose must preserve what the client said and what the broker actually checked.
