Plain-English definitions of the terms you'll hear in a data licensing deal.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AI agent | Software that completes multi-step tasks on its own, like resolving a ticket end to end. |
| Anonymization | Removing or altering data so people can't be identified. See de-identification. |
| Chain of title | Proof that you own, or have rights to, the data you license. |
| Data license | Permission to use defined data for a defined purpose and time, while you keep ownership. |
| Data richness | How well records link across systems, a pricing factor used by shutdown data buyers. |
| De-identification | Removing identifiers so data can't reasonably be linked to a person. CCPA and HIPAA define their own standards. |
| Derivative | Something created from licensed data, such as a trained model or synthetic dataset. |
| Discovery call | The meeting where you and a buyer agree on scope, privacy rules and exclusions. |
| Expert Determination | A HIPAA de-identification method where an expert documents very small re-identification risk. |
| Human feedback | People rating or correcting AI outputs, used to improve models. |
| Operational data | Records of how a business runs: SOPs, tickets, CRM history, project records. |
| PII | Personally identifiable information: names, emails, phone numbers, IDs. |
| Quasi-identifier | Data that can identify someone in combination, like birth date plus ZIP code. |
| Re-identification | Linking de-identified data back to a person. |
| RL environment | A simulated workflow where an AI agent practices tasks and gets feedback (reinforcement learning). |
| Safe Harbor | A HIPAA de-identification method that removes 18 listed identifiers. |
| SOP | Standard operating procedure: written steps for how a task is done. |
| Synthetic rewrite | Rewriting records with new details while keeping the workflow structure. |
Next: how AI data licensing works.
Frequently asked questions
What is ai agent?
Software that completes multi-step tasks on its own, like resolving a ticket end to end.
What is anonymization?
Removing or altering data so people can't be identified. See de-identification.
What is chain of title?
Proof that you own, or have rights to, the data you license.
What is data license?
Permission to use defined data for a defined purpose and time, while you keep ownership.