It depends: use Apple Intelligence for client messages only when your brokerage approves its data handling and you control the optional ChatGPT extension. Some processing stays on your device. More demanding requests can leave it for Private Cloud Compute, while ChatGPT uses a separate service with different terms.
For a work phone, start by turning off the ChatGPT extension and any message summaries you do not need. A summary can also miss a condition in a client’s message, so read the original before acting on it.
What Apple Intelligence Does With Your Data
Apple Intelligence uses on-device models for some tasks and server-based models when a task needs more computing power. Apple’s privacy notice gives Priority Notifications as an on-device example. Image Playground can send your description to Private Cloud Compute to generate an image. Apple’s data-handling explanation describes those different routes.
This means that an Apple Intelligence feature appearing inside Messages or Mail does not, by itself, prove every request stays on the phone. The feature, model and request determine the processing involved. Treat a client email containing income figures differently from a request to rewrite a generic appointment reminder.
Apple lists Mail and Messages summaries, Writing Tools and notification summaries for supported iPhones and Macs. Its Australian availability guide includes English and explains the device requirements. An older iPhone that runs the operating system can still lack Apple Intelligence support.
On iOS 27 and macOS 27, Apple Intelligence is integrated into the operating system. The controls are spread across Siri, individual apps and notification settings. Instructions for an older Apple Intelligence master switch do not describe all of those controls.
How Private Cloud Compute Works
Private Cloud Compute, or PCC, processes requests that need a larger model than the device can run. Your device encrypts the request to a server whose software passes Apple’s verification checks. The server processes the content and sends the result back.
Apple’s PCC security requirements say the service uses personal data to fulfil the request. Apple staff must be unable to access that data. Once the session ends, PCC must lose access to it, including through logs or debugging tools.
There is a technical distinction behind that retention promise. For a multi-turn interaction, PCC can cache encrypted state. The decryption key comes from your device, and PCC does not keep that key between turns. The promise concerns the server’s ability to read the data after the session, rather than a claim that encrypted cache data never exists.
Apple publishes security documentation and selected source code. Its security research resources also let researchers inspect releases and run PCC software in a virtual environment. Device verification connects requests to software recorded in a public transparency log.
Those protections support scrutiny of the design. They do not establish that every software release is free from vulnerabilities or that a particular client message was processed locally. PCC also supports calls to outside services for some tasks. Its security requirements call for those calls to be recorded for inspection.
To inspect off-device activity, open Privacy & Security in Settings on iPhone or System Settings on Mac. Select Apple Intelligence & PCC Report, choose a duration and export the report after making requests. Protect the exported file as client information. A report of processing activity does not certify your brokerage’s compliance or the accuracy of an AI answer.
ChatGPT Inside Apple Intelligence
The optional ChatGPT extension sends the content you choose to OpenAI, separately from PCC. That can include your prompt and an attached document or photo. Limited request information also travels with it, including country and device type. A client attachment can therefore leave Apple’s processing system when you choose ChatGPT.
Apple’s ChatGPT privacy notice says the extension is off by default. Without a ChatGPT account, OpenAI must use the information to fulfil the request and must not use it to train its models. Retention is prohibited unless applicable law requires it. Your IP address is obscured, although general location is provided.
If you sign in, your ChatGPT account settings and OpenAI’s privacy policies apply. Do not assume the signed-out restrictions carry over to a personal account. Broader ChatGPT safety and privacy choices need their own assessment before you use it for client work.
For Siri Classic, leaving Confirm Requests on adds a confirmation step. An explicit request to use ChatGPT can still send content directly. Siri AI (Beta) handles this differently: Apple says you must first ask ChatGPT, and the confirmation switch is unavailable. Turning off the extension gives a clearer boundary than relying on a prompt.
Is Apple Intelligence Safe for Client Messages?
Apple Intelligence can fit an approved work-device setup, but PCC’s privacy design is not blanket permission to process client information. Decide which features your brokerage allows, then apply that choice on every iPhone and Mac that receives client messages.
Turn off the ChatGPT extension
Use the path matching your Siri version. Apple’s guides show the controls for iPhone and Mac.
- On iPhone, open Settings, then Siri. On Mac, open System Settings, then Siri.
- With Siri Classic, open ChatGPT and turn off Use ChatGPT. Turn off Setup Prompts too if you want to stop suggestions to set it up.
- With Siri AI, open Extensions, select ChatGPT and turn off Use Extension.
- Reopen that screen and confirm the relevant switch remains off. Use a generic request with no client details if you check the behaviour.
On older software, the settings category can be called Apple Intelligence & Siri. Keep the extension off on both devices, even when they use the same Apple Account.
Disable the AI features used for client messages
On iOS 27, turn off the relevant features individually using Apple’s iPhone controls.
- Open Settings, then Apps, then Messages. Turn off Summarise Messages.
- In Settings, open Apps, then Mail. Turn off Summarise Message Previews and Personalise Smart Replies if you do not want AI assistance with client emails.
- Open Settings, then Notifications, then Summarise Notifications. Turn it off. Review Prioritise Notifications separately.
- To disable Siri AI, open Settings, then Siri. Select Turn Off Siri and confirm.
On macOS 27, use the Mac feature controls.
- Open Messages, then Messages > Settings. Turn off Summarise Messages.
- Open Mail > Settings > Viewing. Turn off Summarise Message Previews. Under Composing, turn off Personalise Smart Replies if required.
- Open System Settings > Notifications > Summarise Notifications and turn it off.
- Open System Settings > Siri. Select Turn Off Siri and confirm to disable Siri AI.
Turning off Siri alone leaves separate app features to review. For additional restrictions, use Screen Time’s Content & Privacy Restrictions and its Siri controls. A brokerage managing staff devices must apply its approved restrictions across the device fleet.
Return to each setting after changing it and confirm it remains off. Then send a harmless test message between work devices and check that it appears without a generated summary. If summaries continue, check the receiving app’s own setting as well as notification summaries. Keep client information out of that test.
