Where do your prompts live?
If they're in most prompt management tools, AI chat interfaces, or collaboration platforms — they're readable by the vendor.
Those prompts contain: - Business logic - Decision criteria - Competitive approaches - Quality standards - System architecture clues
That's intellectual property. And it's exposed.
The Exposure Model
When you use a tool to store prompts:
1. You send prompts to their servers 2. They store prompts (usually in plaintext) 3. Vendor employees can technically access them 4. Their terms of service may permit usage for product improvement 5. Security breaches would expose them 6. Legal compulsion could force disclosure
You're trusting their policies and security with your intellectual property.
What's Actually at Risk
**Business logic.** Prompts often encode how you make decisions. Pricing rules. Approval criteria. Classification logic. A competitor with these prompts understands your business decisions.
**Competitive approaches.** The prompts that make your AI effective — what you've learned about getting good results — these are competitive advantage. Someone with your prompts could replicate your quality.
**System architecture clues.** Prompts reveal how your system works. What data you use. How components connect. Potentially useful for competitive intelligence or attacks.
**Customer handling.** How you treat customers, what you say, what you offer — encoded in support and sales prompts. Proprietary.
The Risk Assessment
Not all prompts are sensitive: - Generic prompts (summarize this document) — low risk - Business logic prompts (evaluate this application) — high risk - Competitive advantage prompts (generate in our distinctive voice) — high risk
Assess what you're storing where.
Zero-Knowledge Alternative
Zero-knowledge architecture: your content is encrypted before transmission. The vendor literally cannot read it.
This isn't "we promise not to look." It's "we technically cannot look."
For sensitive prompts, this is the appropriate standard.
The Practical Question
Ask yourself: - Where are our prompts stored? - Who can access them? (Including vendor employees) - What would happen if a competitor got them? - What would happen if they were breached?
If the answers are uncomfortable, you have IP stored inappropriately.
What to Do
1. Inventory where prompts are stored 2. Classify by sensitivity 3. Ensure sensitive prompts are protected appropriately 4. Consider zero-knowledge for high-sensitivity prompts
You wouldn't email your source code to competitors. Don't inadvertently share your prompts with vendors who can read them.