Migration agent WhatsApp messages and AI data leakage: what a client chat thread gives away in ChatGPT or Claude.

Many migration clients prefer WhatsApp to email, so a week’s chat can hold a passport photo, a payment receipt, a health update and a confidential job search, all typed on a phone between other things. Staff paste the thread into ChatGPT or Claude to summarise it for the file or draft a reply. The Code of Conduct treats electronic communications with a client as part of the client file. This page marks every line in a routine client chat that the Code and the Privacy Act bear on, and shows how the same thread is summarised on Ermos inside the practice.

The WhatsApp thread with a client

Kept as the client messages the practice. Section 56 of the Code requires the client file to include copies of all written communications, including electronic communications, between the agent and the client. Section 53 requires documents belonging to a client to be kept securely.

An invented chat thread. The people and employer do not exist; the phone, passport and bank numbers are placeholders. Hover or tap any highlighted line for the analysis; the full list is below.

What leaves the practice

1. 1
   The client’s name

   Named in the chat header. The key that ties every message to one real person. Privacy Act guide.

2. 2
   Passport photos and a passport number

   A photo of two passports and a number typed out. Identity documents, and documents the Code requires an agent to keep securely. Privacy Act guide.

3. 3
   A spouse’s cancer treatment

   A diagnosis, a treatment start date, a hospital and a duration. Health information about a third person, and sensitive information where the Privacy Act applies. Patient data guide.

4. 4
   A payment receipt with bank details

   The deposit amount and the client’s bank and account number. Financial information; in this example the bank details are placeholders. Privacy Act guide.

5. 5
   A confidential job search

   That the client is looking for work without telling his employer, and the risk of the shared inbox. Employment information the client shared in confidence. Privacy Act guide.

6. 6
   The agent’s advice about the health requirement

   A caution not to lodge until they talk. The practice’s advice, which the agent must keep on the client file under section 56 and stands behind; a model should not decide it.

7. 7
   The client’s phone number

   A mobile number in the chat header. Personal information, and the account identifier for the chat. Privacy Act guide.

8. 8
   The visa expiry

   The date the client’s visa ends. The deadline for the file. 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