Guidance

GOV.UK Chat: privacy notice

Updated 7 October 2025

GOV.UK Chat is an experimental AI feature available to iOS test users of the GOV.UK app. It is provided by the Government Digital Service (GDS), which is part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The data controller for GDS is DSIT. A data controller determines how and why personal data can be processed. 

Mentions of ‘us’ and ‘we’ in this privacy notice refer to GDS. 

To find out how to ask to delete statistics about how you’ve used GOV.UK Chat in the test, go to section 12.

1. Who this notice is for

This privacy notice is for people whose data is processed as part of providing GOV.UK Chat. 

This includes:

• anyone who has personal data published on GOV.UK (GOV.UK data subjects)
• users of GOV.UK Chat

2. What data we collect from you

2.1 GOV.UK data subjects 

GOV.UK Chat relies on GOV.UK content to answer questions users may have about government and its services. GOV.UK publishes a variety of personal data as determined by the government department publishing the content (you can check the GOV.UK privacy notice to find out how GOV.UK collects and uses your data). 

You may need to view the privacy notice for the department that is publishing your information to understand how and why they process and publish your personal data. We do not intend to use personal data to answer GOV.UK Chat queries. We process the personal data in order to filter and remove it from the database that GOV.UK Chat uses to generate answers. Filtering or removing is classed as processing.

2.2 GOV.UK Chat users

When you sign into the GOV.UK app with your GOV.UK One Login credentials, we use a code to:

• understand how much you are using GOV.UK Chat
• group together your interactions with GOV.UK Chat to create your conversation history
• track through analytics how you are using GOV.UK Chat 

This enables you to continue conversations over multiple sessions. We also store a record of your conversations with GOV.UK Chat.

3. Our Legal Basis for processing your data

3.1 GOV.UK data subjects

The legal basis for the processing of personal data for GOV.UK Chat is a public task, to improve how users interact with GOV.UK by evaluating the emerging technology of large language models (LLMs) (according to Article 6(1)(f) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)).

Some personal data published will be special category data. This is more sensitive, as defined by the UK GDPR. We will process special category data on the legal basis that the processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of domestic law (according to paragraph 6, schedule 1, of the Data Protection Act 2018).

3.2 GOV.UK Chat users

The legal basis for the processing of personal data for GOV.UK Chat is your consent (according to Article 6(1)(a) of the UK GDPR).

4. Why we need your data

4.1 GOV.UK data subjects

GOV.UK Chat is designed to help users to navigate information on GOV.UK, similar to a search function. For GOV.UK Chat to provide answers to users it needs most of the data GOV.UK has to give the most accurate answer. 

GOV.UK sometimes publishes personal data for legal reasons. To ensure GOV.UK Chat does not surface personal data, we need to process that information so we can identify and exclude it from the material it uses to answer questions. We have put in place measures to reduce the likelihood of personal data being part of the AI context, including:

• filtering out, at the earliest stage, pages that are likely to contain personal data so they are not included in the database that GOV.UK Chat searches
• continuously refreshing the database so that up-to-date GOV.UK content is available while maintaining these filters
• restricting GOV.UK Chat to answering using only GOV.UK pages that remain after filtering (it does not search external sites or government service domains, and it is designed not to surface personal data)
• processing questions and the filtered GOV.UK content within GDS-controlled infrastructure

4.2 GOV.UK Chat users

We need your data to provide, secure and improve GOV.UK Chat. We process a small amount of personal data linked to your GOV.UK One Login sign-in. We do this to:

• enable core features such as continuing conversations across sessions by grouping your interactions into a conversation history
• allow you to view and manage your conversation history
• understand how GOV.UK Chat is performing and make improvements, through analytics
• detect, prevent and investigate dangerous or malicious use and keep the service secure

5. What we do with your data

5.1 GOV.UK data subjects

Some of the pages GOV.UK Chat has access to include personal data. This is because departments publishing on GOV.UK sometimes publish personal data for various legal reasons. If your personal data is included in these pages, it is processed as part of the GOV.UK Chat process. This process filters and removes these pages from the database accessible to the GOV.UK Chat LLM. We only process personal data so we can identify and exclude it from any answers given to user questions. 

To do this we:

• automatically filter out, at the earliest stage, pages that are likely to contain personal data - this is so they are not included in the database that GOV.UK Chat searches
• continuously refresh the dataset so up-to-date content is available while maintaining these filters
• restrict GOV.UK Chat to answering using only the GOV.UK pages that remain after filtering
• process only the relevant extracts from the filtered GOV.UK pages, alongside the user’s query (this input is sent to an Anthropic-trained LLM hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) within GDS-controlled accounts, which generates a natural language response)

GOV.UK Chat is designed not to include personal data in responses. Anthropic does not have access to the data processed (the question and the filtered GOV.UK content used in the answer). It trains the LLM separately. The LLM then sits on a GDS-controlled AWS account, so no data is sent to Anthropic.

GOV.UK Chat does not have access to: 

• content created on external government websites, like ons.gov.uk
• services created by other departments, like universal-credit.service.gov.uk
• any personal data you provide when using a government service, such as applying for a passport

5.2 GOV.UK Chat users

When you use GOV.UK Chat:

• your question, together with relevant extracts from filtered GOV.UK content, is processed by an LLM running within GDS‑controlled AWS accounts to generate a natural‑language answer
• if you include personal data in your question and it is not removed by our filters, it will be processed within our system 
• we create and show you a conversation history (we collect analytics from this to understand how the feature is used and to improve it)
• we use limited data to detect, prevent and investigate dangerous or malicious use

We will not:

• sell or rent your data to third parties
• share your data with third parties for marketing purposes

We will share your data if we’re required to do so by law - for example, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime.

6. How long we keep your data

6.1 GOV.UK data subjects

We will only keep your personal data for as long as:

• the law requires us to
• we need it for the purposes listed above

Personal data is filtered. This means it’s not held in the database that holds GOV.UK content which is sent to our processor to create an answer. The database is refreshed continuously to ensure up-to-date GOV.UK data is being searched. 

For more about where your data is processed and stored, go to section 7.

6.2 GOV.UK Chat users

You can clear your conversation history from your device at any time. Clearing your conversation history does not immediately remove it from our servers. The data will remain on our servers for 12 months and is then deleted. 

You may wish to clear your conversation history if you share devices.

Analytical data is kept for 12 months and then deleted. We keep this data to allow us to gain useful insights over an extended period of time. This helps us understand if the product is performing well. It also helps us find any underlying issues that our own testing has not highlighted. This is to make sure that GOV.UK Chat remains a quality product for our users.

7. Where your data is processed and stored

For GOV.UK Chat, we use Anthropic’s Claude models hosted on AWS Bedrock within GDS-controlled accounts. We use Google services (BigQuery and GA4) for analytical purposes. This means any data we process is contained on equipment and systems only controlled by GDS and run for us by AWS. Anthropic does not store or have access to any data we process with them.

Data sent to AWS and Google is processed in the EU.

Your personal data is stored on our IT infrastructure hosted on AWS. This means it’s shared with our data processors. Personal data stored outside the UK will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision. This is reliant on Standard Contractual Clauses or a UK International Data Transfer Agreement.

8. Who we share your data with

GOV.UK Chat uses an LLM from Anthropic to generate responses to user queries. When a user asks a question, GOV.UK Chat sends the query and relevant GOV.UK content to Anthropic’s LLM hosted on AWS’s infrastructure. The LLM then processes this information and produces a natural-sounding answer. The LLM is within GDS-controlled accounts. Anthropic does not have access to your data.

9. How we protect your data and keep it secure

We are committed to doing all that we can to keep your data secure. We set up systems and processes to prevent unauthorised access to or disclosure of the data we collect about you – for example, we protect your data using varying levels of encryption. All third parties that process personal data for GDS are required to keep that data secure.

10. Children’s privacy protection

We do not design or promote services for children who are 13 years of age or younger, and we do not intentionally collect or keep data about anyone under the age of 13.

11. Your rights

You have the right to request:

• information about how your personal data is processed, and to request a copy of that personal data
• that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay
• that any incomplete personal data is updated - you can include the missing information in your request
• that your personal data is erased if there is no longer a justification for it to be processed
• that the processing of your personal data is restricted in certain circumstances - for example, where accuracy is contested 
• that you object to the processing of your personal data 

12. Contact us or make a complaint

The data controller for GDS is DSIT. A data controller determines how and why personal data can be processed. 

Contact the GDS Privacy Team if you:

• have any questions about anything in this document
• think that your personal data has been misused or mishandled
• want to make a subject access request (SAR) or other data rights request
• want to withdraw consent from participating in the iOS test and have statistics about how you’ve used GOV.UK Chat deleted

GDS Privacy Team
gds.data.protection@dsit.gov.uk

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO):

DSIT Data Protection Officer
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
22-26 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2EG
dataprotection@dsit.gov.uk

If you are unhappy with the way GDS has handled your personal data, please write to the DSIT DPO in the first instance.

The DPO provides independent advice and monitoring of our use of personal information.

You can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator.

Information Commissioner
icocasework@ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Textphone: 01625 545860
Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Find out about call charges

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

13. Changes to this notice

We may change this privacy notice. When we make changes to this notice, the ‘last updated’ date at the top of this page will also change. Any changes to this privacy notice will apply to you and your data immediately. If these changes affect how your personal data is processed, GDS will take reasonable steps to make sure you know.