Common questions
Questions firms ask first.
If yours is not here, ask us directly and we will answer it plainly.
Why can’t we just use Microsoft Copilot?
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Microsoft is a US company subject to the CLOUD Act. US authorities can compel access to data regardless of where it’s physically stored. For UK regulated firms handling client-confidential information, this creates a compliance risk that can’t be contracted away. PrivateNode processes everything in European jurisdiction with zero US legal exposure.
How is this different from tools like Harvey or Legora?
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Harvey and Legora are excellent enterprise products built for large law firms with enterprise budgets and US-based infrastructure. PrivateNode is purpose-built for UK regulated SMEs: pricing agreed per firm rather than per seat, EU-only data processing, and UK-specific regulatory intelligence (legislation.gov.uk, HMRC, Companies House, FCA Handbook) that US tools don’t have natively.
What about professional body guidance on AI?
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SRA, ICAEW, RICS, and REC guidance all require firms to understand where client data is processed and maintain confidentiality obligations. Our architecture (dedicated EU infrastructure, zero retention, ISO 27001 certified hosting, full audit trails) addresses these requirements directly. We provide compliance documentation for your risk assessment.
Can we combine our own documents with UK legislation?
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Yes. Your contracts, policies, and precedents are indexed alongside legislation.gov.uk, Companies House, and tribunal decisions on your dedicated server. One query searches both your archives and live UK law, with citations to both.
Who owns our data?
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You do. PrivateNode acts as a data processor under your instructions. You remain the data controller at all times. We provide a full Data Processing Agreement as standard, covering GDPR Article 28 requirements. Your data is stored on your dedicated server in EU jurisdiction, never shared with other clients, and never used for model training.