DATEV AI features vs. SAP Joule: data protection per plan

not publicly documented

yes (concluded via online form with DATEV SmartCard/SmartLogin or by being stored in DATEV Einverständniserklärungen; effective 'upon confirmation of the conclusion of the contract by DATEV' (translated), DPA item 19 a)

yes (concluded via online form with DATEV SmartCard/SmartLogin or by being stored in DATEV Einverständniserklärungen; effective 'upon confirmation of the conclusion of the contract by DATEV' (translated), DPA item 19 a)

yes (the SAP Trust Center lists the 'Data Processing Agreement for Cloud Services, SAP Support and SAP Services', including GERMAN v.11-2024 (DACH) and ENGLISH v.10-2024, as a PDF; content not read, PDF retrieval blocked by bot protection (403))

yes (the SAP Trust Center lists the 'Data Processing Agreement for Cloud Services, SAP Support and SAP Services', including GERMAN v.11-2024 (DACH) and ENGLISH v.10-2024, as a PDF; content not read, PDF retrieval blocked by bot protection (403))

KI-Werkstatt page: 'Some prototypes in the DATEV KI-Werkstatt use the Microsoft Azure Open AI Services' (translated); inputs are 'not passed on to OpenAI and not used to train the models' (translated). No statement for the other prototypes; therefore not substantiated for the plan as a whole.

DATEV Copilot FAQ: 'Is my data used to train the AI? No, neither Microsoft nor OpenAI use your data for training.' (translated). Copilot is a DATEV cloud service under the DATEV service descriptions for the DATEV-Cloud-Lösungen Basis (doc. no. 0904407); unlike the service descriptions for Rechnungswesen, Steuern, Personalwirtschaft and Wissen, these contain no clause on cross-customer processing for 'Intelligente DATEV-Cloud-Lösungen'. Item 3.8, however, permits DATEV to process data 'for the purpose of developing new or further developing existing DATEV products in an appropriately secured environment' (translated); according to item 3.8 this does not apply if the customer concluded the DPA without the anonymisation agreement (deletion possible under DPA item 15). An express statement on DATEV's own model training with Copilot inputs is missing.

DATEV service descriptions for the DATEV-Cloud-Lösungen Rechnungswesen (accounting), Steuern (tax) and Personalwirtschaft (payroll), each item 1.8 'Service-related cross-customer data processing' (translated) (identical wording also for Wissen [knowledge]): for 'intelligent cloud solutions' (translated), the customer instructs DATEV to use the data sets 'set up by the customer for the „Intelligente DATEV-Cloud-Lösungen“' (translated) 'in the context of new and further development, quality assurance and operation' (translated); 'For machine learning or deep learning, this training forms the basis for the systems' learning' (translated); 'for example, data of different customers of the „DATEV-Cloud-Lösungen“ are analysed together' (translated); 'Personal data may still be processed in the resulting AI models as well' (translated); special categories of personal data may also be processed. The application of the AI models remains 'exclusively a DATEV-internal process' (translated). No possibility of objection is described in item 1.8; according to its wording, the optional deletion of the anonymisation agreement (DPA item 15b) only affects items 3.7/3.8, not item 1.8. The Basis service description (Copilot) contains no item 1.8 of this kind. Payroll benchmark uses 'real, anonymised DATEV payroll records' (translated); de-identification service: data is 'analysed in the DATEV data centre' (translated) and de-identified before AI processing.

Responsible AI FAQ: customer data 'can be used to improve existing AI features and functionalities of the SAP cloud service to which the customer has subscribed' (subject to the contract and DPA); use for new AI features only under the 'product development schedule'; customers 'can monitor in which SAP solutions their data might be used and opt out in the SAP for Me interface'. No sharing with LLM/image model providers for training. Joule documentation: conversation logs are stored only with the consent of the global account admin (Joule Booster); analysis to improve Joule only after anonymisation; special categories of personal data are not processed for this purpose.

Responsible AI FAQ: customer data 'can be used to improve existing AI features and functionalities of the SAP cloud service to which the customer has subscribed' (subject to the contract and DPA); use for new AI features only under the 'product development schedule'; customers 'can monitor in which SAP solutions their data might be used and opt out in the SAP for Me interface'. No sharing with LLM/image model providers for training. Joule documentation: conversation logs are stored only with the consent of the global account admin (Joule Booster); analysis to improve Joule only after anonymisation; special categories of personal data are not processed for this purpose.

Page: prototypes 'in a protected DATEV environment' (translated); for Azure OpenAI prototypes, inputs are 'sent as a request through the DATEV cloud-native data centre to Microsoft Azure' (translated) and processed there temporarily. Azure region not stated.

FAQ: 'DATEV Copilot uses Microsoft Azure services. The data you upload is processed in an area hosted by DATEV at Microsoft Azure in a European data centre.' (translated). Internet research (optional, permission 'Allow internet research' (translated)): according to the programme content (doc. no. 0904530), 'you transmit your data to Microsoft Corporation in the USA' (translated); 'Microsoft processes your data for its own purposes and on global servers' (translated); DATEV warns against transmitting confidential or legally protected information.

DATEV data centre/DATEV cloud according to the de-identification article and the AI overview. Help document 1000192 (as of 2026-09-18): Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited (IE) for 'DATEV Einspruchsgenerator, DATEV LEXchat AI functionalities' (translated) without transfer to a third country; transfers to a third country (USA) to Datadog, Inc. (DATEV Bankdatenservice) and Raintank, Inc./Grafana Labs (IT monitoring), among others, on the basis of the EU-U.S. DPF.

Joule documentation 'Data Centers Supported by Joule': data centres including Frankfurt (EU01 Converge Cloud, EU10 AWS, EU11 AWS 'EU access only', EU30 GCP) and Amsterdam (EU20 Microsoft Azure), each with 'Subprocessor Region' Europe; also USA, Brazil, UAE, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore. Joule can be consumed from a different data centre than the business application (cross consumption); according to SAP, assessing transfer restrictions is the customer's responsibility. Responsible AI page: with third-party foundation models, data are sent to the model provider for processing only and are not stored there; location of these model providers: not publicly documented.

Joule documentation 'Data Centers Supported by Joule': data centres including Frankfurt (EU01 Converge Cloud, EU10 AWS, EU11 AWS 'EU access only', EU30 GCP) and Amsterdam (EU20 Microsoft Azure), each with 'Subprocessor Region' Europe; also USA, Brazil, UAE, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore. Joule can be consumed from a different data centre than the business application (cross consumption); according to SAP, assessing transfer restrictions is the customer's responsibility. Responsible AI page: with third-party foundation models, data are sent to the model provider for processing only and are not stored there; location of these model providers: not publicly documented.

• Microsoft Azure OpenAI Services (some prototypes)

• Microsoft Azure (AI services, European data centre, according to the Copilot FAQ)
• OpenAI models via Azure (according to the FAQ, OpenAI does not use data for training)
• Microsoft Bing (only with internet research enabled; independent processing by Microsoft)
• Service descriptions Basis item 3.4: 'DATEV Copilot: Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited' (Dublin, IE), purpose 'AI functions' (translated); otherwise help document 1000192

• Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited (Einspruchsgenerator, LEXchat AI functionalities)
• Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL (operation/hosting of DATEV products)
• Microsoft Deutschland GmbH (DATEV products, data centre services)
• Google Ireland Ltd. (DATEV platform, chatbot use)
• Datadog, Inc. (USA, DATEV Bankdatenservice, DPF)
• others according to help document 1000192

• Infrastructure according to the Joule data centre table: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Converge Cloud (depending on the selected data centre)

• Infrastructure according to the Joule data centre table: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Converge Cloud (depending on the selected data centre)

'The platform can be used free of charge' (translated); login via DATEV account and SmartCard/SmartLogin (as of 2026-10-18)

DATEV shop (item no. 90431): 'The prerequisite is ordering a free licence via this shop page' (translated); ordering also via the MyDATEV ordering and set-up assistant. Usage limit: rolling 2-hour window, if exceeded blocked for 2 hours (doc. no. 1049806). MyDATEV Kanzlei and LEXinform plus require a licence (as of 2026-10-18)

Billing according to the service descriptions 'in accordance with the current DATEV price list' (translated); the DATEV price list for firms is offered as a PDF download and was not evaluated (as of 2026-10-18)

Included in the price of the SAP cloud subscription; no surcharge according to the pricing page (subscription prices not recorded)

AI surcharge: AI Units as a shared consumption currency (SKU 8019164), purchased annually, expire after 12 months; price per AI Unit: not publicly documented (price list via sales); Custom-built AI (Joule Studio) free of charge in operation until the end of 2026 (pricing page)

yes

yes

yes

yes (Joule Base and Embedded AI at no additional cost; 'no AI Units required'; availability varies by SAP solution)

yes (agents and extended AI services based on consumption; SAP-delivered agents 0.02 AI Units per agent action; Joule for Consultants 35 AI Units per user per month)