What Not to Share with AI: A Beginner Privacy Guide

Keep these out

Information that does not belong in an ordinary AI chat

!Passwords and security answers. Include one-time codes, recovery phrases, PINs and answers used to prove your identity.
!Payment and bank details. Include full card numbers, bank account details and online-banking screenshots.
!Identity documents. Include passport, driving-licence and National Insurance details unless an authorised service explicitly requires them and you have verified the service.
!Complete private records. Avoid full medical records, legal correspondence, tax documents and unredacted financial statements.
!Other people’s information. Do not upload someone else’s messages, photos, voice, health details or contact list without a valid reason and permission.
!Confidential work material. Follow your employer’s policy. Personal consumer accounts may not be approved for customer, employee or commercially sensitive data.

Data minimisation

Give the AI less, not more

Most everyday tasks do not need real identities or exact records. Replace identifying details with short placeholders and add them yourself after you leave the AI service.

Too much

“Reply to this letter about Jane Smith at 14 Example Road. Her account number is…”

Safer draft

“Write a polite reply asking a company to explain a disputed charge. Use placeholders for the name, address and account.”

Add later

Copy the draft into your own document, then insert the real details there.

This is called data minimisation: use only the information needed for the task. Removing a name may not be enough if dates, locations and unusual circumstances still identify the person.

Files, images and connected apps

An upload can reveal more than the visible paragraph

Documents can contain names, addresses, comments, tracked changes or metadata. Photos can reveal faces, locations, documents in the background or information on a screen. Connected email, drive, calendar and photo services may give an AI access to much more context than a typed prompt.

01Ask whether the task can be done without the file.
02Make a copy and remove details the AI does not need.
03Review the provider’s current activity, training and retention controls.
04Check which connected apps are enabled and disconnect those you do not need.
05Do not assume deleting a chat removes data already sent to another connected service.

If you shared something by mistake

Act according to what was exposed

Delete the chat if the service allows it and review the provider’s privacy guidance, but do not assume deletion reverses every use or retention rule. Change an exposed password immediately. Contact your bank through an official number if payment information was involved. Tell your employer or the relevant person if their confidential information was shared.

Do not ask the AI how to secure a compromised account

Go directly to the account provider, bank, employer or relevant authority using a trusted website, app or phone number.

What not to share with an AI assistant