Support ticket data and AI licensing

Describe the structure, not the conversations

For the first discussion, explain the service or product supported, the years covered and the approximate number of resolved tickets. Say whether you can distinguish the original request, internal notes, troubleshooting steps and final resolution. Do not paste real ticket text into an enquiry.

An illustrative description is: “A technical service desk archive with linked problem categories, troubleshooting notes and recorded resolutions.” This describes a format without naming a customer or reproducing their information.

Questions that make the review useful

• Are outcomes recorded, or do tickets simply change to “closed”?
• Are the conversation and resolution linked reliably?
• Can duplicates, spam and empty records be identified?
• Is the subject matter specialised or general?
• Which languages and time periods are represented?
• Are attachments separate, and could they be excluded?

These questions help establish what a collection contains. They do not establish buyer demand or a price. A smaller, coherent collection may be easier to assess than a large archive with unclear structure, but a buyer must decide whether it meets their requirements.

Removing names is not the whole privacy task

The ICO distinguishes anonymous information from pseudonymous information. Replacing identifiers does not make information anonymous if people can still be identified using other information. Free text needs particular care: the circumstances described can matter as much as the name field.

Do not promise that an archive is anonymous until an appropriate assessment supports that conclusion. The ICO currently marks its anonymisation guidance as under review following legislative changes; consult the current guidance and a qualified adviser for a proposed transaction.

Keep customer obligations separate

Alongside privacy, ask who owns or controls the material and what customer agreements permit. A right to process tickets to provide support does not, by itself, answer a question about a new licensing use. Record the question for legal review rather than giving a confident answer in an intake form.

What to do before cleaning anything

Prepare a short description and a list of known restrictions. Establish whether there is a relevant requirement, then agree what a controlled review would need. Keep source records in your existing system until there is an approved process. Fairlode’s initial form asks for a description only and does not accept file uploads.

The licensing checklist covers the other questions to prepare.