Client files in ChatGPT can cost you privilege
A solicitor pasted client emails and Home Office letters into ChatGPT to save time. The tribunal’s view: that put the information in the public domain.
It started with something many professionals do every day. A solicitor at a Manchester immigration firm used ChatGPT to improve emails to his clients, and to summarise decision letters from the Home Office. It came to light when a made-up case name turned up in an appeal (Legal Futures, February 2026).
What the tribunal said
The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), in a panel led by Judge Fiona Lindsley, said that putting client documents into an open AI tool like ChatGPT places that information in the public domain. That breaches client confidentiality and waives legal privilege. A regulated lawyer who does this should report it to their regulator and consult the Information Commissioner’s Office. The decision was published as [2026] UKUT 81 (IAC).
- The solicitor reported himself and said he would inform his clients.
- The tribunal said closed tools that don’t place information in the public domain, such as Microsoft Copilot, could be used for tasks like summarising without these risks.
- Lawyers point out that these remarks weren’t needed for the decision itself, so they aren’t a binding rule. But they were expressed clearly, and regulators read them too.
Why this matters beyond the UK
Lawyers, accountants, doctors and HR teams all work with information they promised to keep confidential. A client name and a few facts in a prompt are enough to make a conversation about a real person. Whether that’s a breach depends on the tool, the contract and the country. Explaining it afterwards is never a good place to be.
What firms can do
- Agree which AI tools may be used for client work, and on which account.
- Take client names, case numbers, bank details and addresses out before anything goes into an AI.
- Don’t upload whole documents to public AI tools. Paste only the part you need.
Where Kamelo helps
Kamelo Business replaces client names, company names, bank details and ID numbers with placeholders on each computer, before a prompt reaches any AI, and puts the real details back in the answer. Nothing passes through Kamelo, and one policy covers the whole office, including your own list of client names.
Honest about the limits: it doesn’t mask uploaded files yet, and it can’t judge whether a tool is allowed under your contracts. It makes the safe way the easy way.