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Showing posts with the label Privacy

How to Use AI Tools Without Sharing Private Information

Person using an AI assistant while shielding private personal 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...

Android App Permissions Explained

Android phone with controlled camera, microphone, location, contact and file permissions
Quick answer: On most Android phones, open Settings > Apps > select an app > Permissions . Allow only the access the app needs for a feature you use. For a full category view, look for Security & privacy > Privacy > Permission manager ; wording varies by phone and Android version. Permissions let an app use sensitive parts of a phone, such as the camera, microphone, location, contacts, files, or nearby devices. A permission is not proof that an app is bad—but unnecessary access is a reason to pause. Understand the common choices Choice What it generally means Good use Allow only while using the app Access is available while the app is active. Maps using location during navigation. Ask every time The app must request access again. A feature used occasionally. Allow all the time Background access may be available. Only when a trusted app genuinely needs it. Don’t allow The app cannot use that permission. Access unrelated to the app’s purpo...