Zero data retention is a contract term under which an AI vendor doesn't store prompts and outputs sent through its API beyond the time needed to serve them.
Category
AI, Data Governance
Also known as
ZDR; zero retention; no data retention
It is separate from "we don't train on your data": a vendor can skip training and still keep logs for a period. Thirty days for abuse monitoring is a common default. Consumer chat plans let you opt out of training but don't offer zero retention; API and enterprise tiers offer both, usually on request and in writing.
In practice
Ask for both terms in writing: no training on your data, and the retention period for prompts and outputs. The answer decides which customer data may go through the tool at all.
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