Your SaaS is training its AI on your data. And it's on by default.

In the Spring '26 release, Salesforce exposed a setting that uses your data to train 'global predictive AI models' — on by default. Atlassian will do the same with Jira and Confluence on August 17, 2026. While OpenAI and Anthropic require explicit opt-in, your office suite enrolled you without asking. The real price of SaaS isn't the bill: it's your data.

The setting they switched on without you noticing

In its Spring '26 release, Salesforce surfaced a setting in the Setup panel that allows customer data to be used to train 'global predictive AI models'. The detail that lit up its own community: it's on by default, and turning it off means manually flipping a toggle (Salesforce Ben, 2026). The company replies that the clause has been in its Main Services Agreement since at least 2018 and that opting out used to require a support case; but that's precisely the problem: for years the permission sat there with almost nobody seeing it. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has already warned that retroactively modifying terms to expand data usage —especially where privacy was previously promised— may be an unfair or deceptive practice.

It's not just Salesforce: the pattern is spreading

Atlassian announced that, starting August 17, 2026, data from Jira and Confluence Cloud —metadata on all plans and, on Free and Standard tiers, in-app data too— will be used to train its AI models. The method is almost always the same: a unilateral terms update, not a negotiated amendment, expanding the vendor's data rights without drawing attention. The telling contrast: the major AI labs —OpenAI, Anthropic and Google— moved toward an explicit opt-in model for training on enterprise data. In other words, the model maker asks your permission, but the SaaS reselling it bundled enrolls you by default. Whoever controls the button controls your data.

Why your data is the real price

When your emails, tickets, contracts and customer notes feed a vendor's global model, three things happen at once. First, you lose exclusivity: the patterns that make you competitive may end up improving a model that also serves your rivals. Second, you lose traceability: once a data point enters training, there is no 'undo'. Third, you take on a compliance risk you never chose —GDPR, trade secrets, your own customers' NDAs— for a permission buried in the terms. The cost comparison below matters, but the truly decisive axis is another: where does your data live, and who gets to train on it?

The vendors' defense (and where it breaks)

Its defenders have legitimate points: data is usually aggregated and anonymized, training improves features you use yourself, and technically you signed the terms. In sectors where your data is neither sensitive nor distinctive, the objection is minor and a better-tuned model may be worth it. Where the argument breaks is on three points: 'anonymized' rarely means irreversible for free text full of names, figures and context; 'you signed it' weakens when the permission is expanded unilaterally and retroactively; and 'it improves the product' never answers who else benefits from a model trained on your competitive edge. The rule of thumb: if your data is generic, opt-out is enough; if it's your asset, it shouldn't live where opt-out is the exception.

The alternative: custom AI with your data at home

You don't have to choose between 'using AI' and 'protecting your data'. The third path is building your AI layer custom: you call the OpenAI, Anthropic or Google APIs directly under agreements that forbid training on your data, and integrate them into your own infrastructure, your CRM, your ERP, your documents. Your data doesn't move, you choose which model processes what, and the training permission is yours to give —or not. As the comparison shows, for 100 users the saving is around 75% in year 1, but the real return is strategic: your information stops being free fuel for someone else's model. If it unsettled you to learn your SaaS was already training on your data, request a custom AI software quote and take back control of your most valuable asset.