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What happens to your documents in a translation tool

What to ask before pasting customer or business documents into a translation tool, with one maker's published data terms as an example.

Reviewed on October 31, 2026

Not always. It depends on what's in the document and on the tool's terms. Treat a translation box like any other place you send information outside the business, because that's what it is.

Before you paste a documentSpot personal or private detailsRemove or replace themRead the tool's data termsPaste only what's left
Remove what the translation doesn't need.

Why the question matters

A translation tool is run by a company. The text you paste goes to that company's servers.1 A reference on machine translation warns that lawyers using free tools "may accidentally violate client confidentiality". The private information goes to the tool's provider. The same logic applies to your customers' details.

What one maker publishes

Makers set out what they do with your text in their own terms.2 Google's data FAQ for its developer service, Cloud Translation, was last updated on 2026-10-27 and checked here on 2026-10-31. That service isn't the free website or app, which have their own terms. It's here as an example of what to look for.

2 On use of content, the FAQ says Google uses it only to provide the service. It adds that the text "is held briefly in-memory" while the translation runs. Training is covered too: the maker says what you send isn't used "to train and improve" its translation features. One catch is location. With global endpoints, you can't keep processing in a single region.

Those are promises about one service. They say nothing about other tools or plans. A free consumer tool can have different terms, so read each one.

What to look for in any tool

  • Does the maker say whether it keeps your text, and for how long?
  • Does it say whether your text is used to train or improve its models?
  • Can you choose where the data is processed?
  • Is there a business plan with separate terms from the free version?
  • Who in your business is allowed to use it?

If you can't find answers, assume the least private case.

The legal side differs by country

This page isn't legal advice. Privacy law depends on where you and your customers are, so check the official regulator for your country.

3 Australia's privacy regulator says your privacy duties still apply when personal information goes into an AI system. Its advice is to keep personal details, and sensitive ones above all, out of publicly available generative AI tools. That's Australian guidance only. Other countries have their own rules. Check your own regulator's website.

A safer habit

Document type Approach
A menu or price list with no personal details Usually fine to paste, after you read the tool's terms
A customer letter with names and addresses Replace names and details with placeholders such as [NAME], then put them back by hand
Contract with private business terms Check the tool's terms first, and see reading a contract
Health, financial or identity documents Don't paste them into a general tool; ask a qualified translator what they do to protect the file

The table is practical advice, not a rule from a source. In the first row, "usually" depends on the terms you read.

Placeholders work well. Write "Dear [NAME], your order [ORDER NUMBER] is ready" and translate that. Fill in the real details afterward in the translated text. Check the details are in the right places, as the tool may move them. Our checking page shows how.

Where the facts come from

  1. Machine translation, Wikipedia
  2. Data usage FAQ, Cloud Translation, Google Cloud Documentation
  3. Guidance on privacy and the use of commercially available AI products, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

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