Visa application forms and AI data leakage: what a family data form gives away in ChatGPT or Claude.

Before an agent lodges a visa application, the client completes a data form for the whole family: who they are, where they have lived, what they do for work, their health and any convictions. It is the densest document a migration practice holds, and the one staff most often paste into ChatGPT or Claude to extract fields into an application or to spot gaps. This page marks every item in a typical family data form that the Code of Conduct and the Privacy Act bear on, and shows how the same extraction happens on Ermos inside the practice.

The visa application data form

Completed by the client after the service agreement is signed and before the application is prepared. Section 36 of the Code requires the agent to verify the client’s identity, and the form feeds the application the agent prepares.

An invented data form. The passport numbers are placeholders and the family, employer and doctor do not exist. Hover or tap any highlighted item for the analysis; the full list is below.

What leaves the practice

1. 1
   The main applicant’s identity

   Full name, date of birth, nationality and passport number. The identifiers an identity thief needs, and the details section 36 of the Code requires the agent to verify before giving immigration assistance. Privacy Act guide.

2. 2
   The partner’s identity

   A second adult’s name, date of birth, nationality and passport number. Personal information about a person who may never have dealt with the practice directly. Privacy Act guide.

3. 3
   The children

   Two named minors, their birth dates and the town they go to school in. Children’s personal information, and where they are on weekdays. Privacy Act guide.

4. 4
   Visa status and expiry

   The visa the family holds, when it ends and what the family hopes to apply for. The deadline that drives the whole file. Privacy Act guide.

5. 5
   Employer, location and salary

   A named employer, how long she has worked there and what she is paid. Employment and financial information the application will rely on. Privacy Act guide.

6. 6
   A child’s health condition

   A diagnosis, a medication and a named doctor. Health information is sensitive information where the Privacy Act applies, and health matters also feed the health requirement for the visa. Patient data guide.

7. 7
   A criminal conviction

   A named person’s conviction, the place, the date and the penalty. A criminal record is sensitive information under the Privacy Act, and the character answers must be accurate because the Code prohibits false or misleading statements to government officials. Privacy Act guide.

8. 8
   A third party’s visa refusal

   A relative’s name and a refused visa. Personal information about someone who is not the client and has not agreed to its use. Privacy Act guide.

9. 9
   The police certificate countries

   Which countries the adults have lived in. The rule for when Home Affairs asks for police certificates is public, but the countries disclose where this family has lived and can point to national and ethnic background. Privacy Act guide.

What happens in Frontier Models (ChatGPT, Claude)

• The whole document is transmitted to the provider’s servers. On personal plans the user cannot choose where it is stored or processed, and for the major providers that has generally meant outside Australia, under that country’s legal process. Some business plans offer storage in Australia, but the provider still receives the content.
• On consumer tiers, prompts can be retained and used to train future models.
• The provider’s staff and systems can reach the content under the provider’s own policies.
• Once sent, the practice no longer controls it. Retention and deletion happen on the provider’s terms.

The same document on Ermos

Part of AI data leakage in migration practices.

Common questions