How to Use AI Tools Without Sharing Private Information
Quick answer: Assume anything you type or upload to an AI service leaves your immediate device. Remove names and identifiers, replace real records with fictional examples, share only the minimum needed, review the provider’s current data controls, and follow workplace or school rules. AI tools can summarize, rewrite, classify, and brainstorm, but a convenient prompt box is still a data-entry form. NIST identifies data privacy as a generative-AI risk, including leakage, unauthorized disclosure, or inference of personal and sensitive information. Privacy is one part of choosing a suitable AI tool . After protecting your inputs, use our fact-checking steps to verify its output before relying on it. Information to keep out of ordinary prompts Passwords, one-time codes, recovery codes, API keys, and security answers. Full identity numbers, passport details, payment-card numbers, and bank information. Medical records or identifiable health details. Private addresses, precise...