Do they own your data? Dovetail Privacy Policy Reviewed.
Dovetail achieves a 6/10 enterprise readiness score, marking it as partially ready for large-scale deployment. While the user research platform shows promise, gaps in enterprise-grade security, compliance frameworks, and scalability features may concern IT leaders evaluating solutions.
Final Enterprise Readiness Rating: 6/10
⚠️ Partially ready (Reviewed 2026).
|
Area |
Verdict |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Data Residency & Storage |
⚠️ Partial |
Data stored in multiple countries with some visibility but no enterprise-grade residency guarantees |
|
AI Model Use |
❌ High Risk |
Policy excludes 'generalized/non-personalized' AI training but lacks clarity on what this means in practice |
|
Data Minimization |
⚠️ Partial |
Collects standard business application data but also extensive analytics and behavioral tracking |
|
Privacy Controls |
✅ Good |
Good individual user controls and cookie management, but limited enterprise admin controls mentioned |
|
Compliance & Auditability |
⚠️ Partial |
GDPR and Australian Privacy Act compliance, but no mention of SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA |
|
Consent Handling |
✅ Good |
Clear consent collection and user rights, but lacks enterprise-specific consent workflows |
|
Model Explainability |
❌ High Risk |
No information about AI model explainability, logging, or transparency features |
|
Data Retention & Deletion |
⚠️ Partial |
Users can delete accounts but policy is vague about retention periods and backup handling |
|
Third-Party Sharing |
✅ Good |
Clear disclosure of third-party sharing, explicitly states they don't sell data, provides subprocessor transparency |
⚠️ Recommendation for Enterprises:
Adopt Dovetail with caution. Be especially careful if you handle:
- Regulated healthcare or financial data requiring HIPAA/SOX compliance
- Highly confidential research requiring AI transparency
- Data subject to strict residency requirements
Instead, consider AI tools that:
- Provide SOC 2 Type II and industry-specific compliance certifications
- Offer clear AI training exclusions and model transparency
- Support configurable data residency and retention policies
- Include enterprise admin controls and bulk user management
Better Alternative:
✅ BuildBetter.ai — GDPR, SOC 2 Type 2, and HIPAA compliant
✅ Zero training on customer data
✅ You own your data. Fully opt-in privacy model.
🔍 Dovetail Privacy Policy – Enterprise Risk Assessment
Audience: Security-conscious enterprise organizations evaluating User research and customer feedback analysis platform for internal use in highly sensitive or regulated environments (e.g. legal, healthcare, finance, tech/IP-heavy orgs).
⚠️ Where Dovetail Falls Short – Critical Gaps
🔒 1. Data Residency & Storage
Quote: "Dovetail hosts data with hosting service providers in countries outside of Australia, including the United States and Ireland. Your Personal Information may also be stored and processed in other countries where we have facilities or in which we engage service providers."
Risk: For regulated industries requiring data sovereignty, the lack of guaranteed regional data residency creates compliance risks, especially for EU or healthcare data subject to strict locality requirements.
Enterprise Issue:
- No guaranteed data residency options
- Multi-country storage by default
- Limited enterprise control over data location
Verdict: ⚠️ Scattered global storage without clear enterprise controls
🧠 2. AI Model Use
Quote: "to develop and improve our Services and your overall user experience, excluding the training of generalized/non-personalized AI and/or ML models"
Risk: The distinction between 'generalized' vs other AI training is unclear and unenforceable. This ambiguity could allow customer data to train AI models in ways enterprises cannot control or audit.
Enterprise Issue:
- Ambiguous AI training exclusion
- No bring-your-own-model options mentioned
- Unclear what constitutes 'personalized' AI training
Verdict: ❌ Vague AI exclusion creates dangerous ambiguity
📊 3. Data Minimization
Quote: "usage data (including, but not limited to, search terms entered, pages viewed, and other usage behavior identified by analytics events)"
Risk: While data collection appears reasonable for functionality, the extensive behavioral tracking and third-party integrations create broader data exposure than many enterprises require.
Enterprise Issue:
- No configurable data collection limits
- Behavioral tracking by default
- Third-party integration data automatically collected
Verdict: ⚠️ Reasonable collection scope but lacks enterprise configurability
⚙️ 4. Privacy Controls
Quote: "You can review, update, correct or delete the Personal Information held by Dovetail by contacting legal@dovetail.com. If you are a Dovetail user, you may also manage certain information directly via your user account."
Risk: Individual users have good control, but enterprises need workspace-level admin controls to manage employee data centrally, which appears limited.
Enterprise Issue:
- Limited enterprise admin controls
- No mention of bulk user management
- Individual-focused rather than organizational controls
Verdict: ✅ Solid individual controls but weak organizational governance
📦 5. Compliance & Auditability
Quote: "this Privacy Policy takes into account the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Australian Privacy Act, as well as other applicable privacy laws"
Risk: While legally compliant, the absence of industry-standard enterprise security certifications like SOC 2 Type II makes it unsuitable for regulated industries requiring third-party security validation.
Enterprise Issue:
- No SOC 2 Type II certification mentioned
- No ISO 27001 compliance
- No HIPAA or healthcare compliance options
Verdict: ⚠️ Basic compliance but missing enterprise certifications
📬 6. Consent Handling
Quote: "By providing Personal Information to us, you consent to our collection, handling, use and disclosure of your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy"
Risk: While consent is properly collected, enterprises often need more sophisticated consent management for client data or research participants, which isn't addressed.
Enterprise Issue:
- No enterprise consent workflows
- Basic consent model only
- No client data consent management features
Verdict: ✅ Adequate consent mechanisms for general use
🔍 7. Model Explainability
Risk: For enterprises using AI-powered research tools, the complete absence of model explainability features makes it impossible to audit AI decisions or ensure bias-free analysis.
Enterprise Issue:
- No AI explainability features mentioned
- No model transparency
- No audit trails for AI decisions
Verdict: ❌ Complete lack of AI transparency
🧼 8. Data Retention & Deletion
Quote: "We will retain your Personal Information for as long as your account is in existence or otherwise as necessary to provide you the Services, or as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law"
Risk: The vague retention policy creates compliance risks for enterprises subject to specific data retention requirements or those needing guaranteed deletion timelines.
Enterprise Issue:
- Indefinite retention periods
- Unclear backup deletion policies
- No configurable retention schedules
Verdict: ⚠️ Adequate deletion rights but unclear retention policies
🤝 9. Third-Party Sharing
Quote: "We do not sell information about you to advertisers or other third parties"
Risk: While third-party sharing is well-disclosed, enterprises need more control over which specific subprocessors handle their data, especially for sensitive research.
Enterprise Issue:
- Limited control over subprocessor selection
- Automatic third-party integration data sharing
- No enterprise-specific data handling agreements mentioned
Verdict: ✅ Transparent about sharing with good safeguards
✅ What Dovetail Does Right (Credit Where It's Due)
- Transparent about not selling user data
- Good individual privacy controls and cookie management
- Clear GDPR compliance with proper user rights
- Honest disclosure of data storage locations and third-party relationships
Disclaimer: This evaluation is based solely on publicly available information and documentation. For formal enterprise vetting, always request a vendor's latest DPA, security whitepaper, and third-party audit reports.