What should I never share with AI?

This isn’t a page about being afraid of AI. It’s about one habit: before you share something, take out the parts the task doesn’t need.

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The short list to keep out

• Passwords and login details, including answers to security questions
• Authentication codes, the one-time codes sent by text message or an app when you sign in
• Full Social Security numbers
• Full payment card numbers and bank account numbers
• Other people’s private information when the task doesn’t need it: their health, their address, their messages to you
• Confidential information from your employer or clients, unless your organization has explicitly approved that tool for it

None of these makes an answer better. A letter about a billing change is no harder to explain without your account number.

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An example: asking about a bill

Here’s a made-up letter. Every name and number in it is fictional.

The original:

John Smith
123 Example Street
Anytown, ST 00000
Account #123456789

Dear Mr. Smith,

Your monthly service charge will increase from $82.00 to $104.00
beginning with your June statement, due to an adjustment in our
standard rate plan. Your promotional discount of $15.00 ended on
May 1.

A safer version for the task:

My monthly service charge is going up from $82 to $104 starting
with my June statement. The letter says it's "due to an adjustment
in our standard rate plan." It also says a $15 promotional discount
ended on May 1.

Explain what's changing. Is the ended discount part of the $22
increase, or separate? What should I ask when I call them?

Removed: the name, the street address, the city, and the account number.

Kept: the old and new amounts, the dates, the reason the letter gives, and the discount, because those are what the question is about.

Added: the actual question. That’s what turns pasted text into a request it can help with.

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The test to use every time

Before you share anything, ask: would this still be useful with the names, numbers, and identifiers taken out?

Almost always, yes. If a sentence needs something in the gap, put a placeholder like [NAME] or [ACCOUNT]. When you use the answer, check it against your real document.

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What’s appropriate depends on where you share it

There’s no single rule for every situation, because three things change the answer:

• The service you’re using. Products differ in what they store, for how long, and whether conversations can be used to improve them.
• Your settings and account type. Many apps have data controls you can change, and a work account set up by your employer may follow different terms from a personal one.
• Workplace and legal requirements. Your employer may have a policy about which tools are allowed for which information. Some information, like patient records or client files, comes with legal obligations no matter which tool you use.

When you’re not sure, follow the stricter reading.

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Something you can try

Find a real letter, bill, or email you’d like explained. Before you open any AI app:

1. Copy the text into a blank note.
2. Delete or replace every name, address, account number, and date of birth.
3. Read what’s left and ask: does it still contain what my question is about?
4. Add your question at the end.

Then paste it in.

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Something important to know

Don’t paste the full document and ask the AI to remove the personal parts. To remove them, it has to receive them. The removal has to happen before the text leaves your screen.

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If it doesn’t match what you see

Taking the details out made the answer less useful. Put back the kind of detail, not the detail itself. Not [DATE] but [DATE, two weeks before the due date]. Not [AMOUNT] but [AMOUNT, about $400].

You already shared something from the list. If it was a password or code, change it now. Then delete the conversation, knowing that deleting reduces exposure but may not remove every copy. If it was covered by a work policy, tell whoever handles that today. The full steps are in the guide linked below.

The document is a photo or scan, so you can’t edit the text. Crop or cover the personal details before you upload it, or type out only the part you need.