Not everything should be shared in a conversation with AI. Discover what information to avoid entering into an AI chat, how to craft safe prompts, and how to safeguard your privacy while interacting with an AI assistant.
What Not to Paste into an AI Chat, Personal Data, Contracts, Passwords
Artificial intelligence can enhance your work, organize your notes, help you craft prompts, and reduce research time. These are significant benefits, but they only apply when you use it wisely. The biggest mistake users make today is not asking the wrong questions. The issue lies in content ending up in AI tools that should never be shared outside of a personal computer, a company system, or a secure email inbox.
If you're using an AI chat as a tool for work, study, or life organization, there's one important thing to remember: not every piece of information should be shared. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in the context of AI, what matters is not only quality and effectiveness but also risk management, privacy, and data security (NIST AI RMF, 2023). Meanwhile, the European Commission emphasizes the significance of data oversight, privacy, and responsible use in its guidelines on trustworthy AI (2019).
In practice, this boils down to one simple rule: an AI chat isn't suitable for everything. Even if the AI assistant is fast, polite, and seems safe, you're still responsible for what you input. Below, you'll find a concrete list of things you should avoid pasting into an AI chat and how to create prompts that ensure artificial intelligence assists you instead of increasing risk.
Why Caution in an AI Chat is Necessary
Many people treat AI like a private notebook or a digital colleague to whom they can share everything. This may be convenient, but it can also be risky. Tools based on artificial intelligence might process submitted content at various stages of the service. The specifics depend on the provider, their privacy policy, account settings, and subscription plan. Therefore, you should not assume that every AI chat functions like a local offline editor.
OWASP, in its list of threats to applications built on large language models, identifies various risks including exposure of sensitive data, unsafe handling of outputs, and issues related to integrations and plugins (OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, 2025). ENISA, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, also warns that AI systems can increase the attack surface if organizations do not control data flows (2023).
This doesn't mean you should stop using AI; it means you need to change your habits. Well-crafted prompts and data minimization allow the AI assistant to remain beneficial while enhancing AI security.
Personal Data: Only Enter When Absolutely Necessary
The most crucial rule is straightforward: do not share complete personal data unless absolutely necessary. This applies to both your own data and that of others. The Information Commissioner's Office, the British regulatory authority, emphasizes in its materials on AI and data protection that organizations should apply principles of data minimization and purpose limitation (2024). This logic is equally pertinent for everyday users.
The following items should not be shared in an AI chat, among others:
- Full name combined with home address,
- National ID number, identity card number, passport number,
- Phone number and personal email address, unless absolutely essential,
- Data regarding children, students, clients, or patients,
- Bank account numbers, payment card details, and billing information,
- Scans of documents, photos of ID cards, driver's licenses, or signed contracts.
If you want artificial intelligence to assist you in drafting a letter, CV, or complaint, remove any identifying details. Instead of pasting the full document, use neutral placeholders, such as [NAME], [SURNAME], [ADDRESS], [CLIENT NUMBER]. Such a prompt will still be effective while significantly reducing risk.
A good example: "Write a polite complaint regarding a delayed delivery. Maintain a formal tone. Leave spaces for personal data to be filled in." This is better than pasting a complete letter with full address and phone number.
Contracts, Documents, and Company Files: Exercise Extreme Caution
The second category involves contracts, annexes, sales offers, NDAs, HR documents, strategic presentations, and other confidential materials. Here, the risks encompass not only privacy but also trade secrets and business relationships. Even if the AI chat is intended to help you 'just summarize a document,' you may be disclosing content that includes pricing terms, contractor details, confidentiality clauses, or information about company plans.
The European Commission's guidelines for trustworthy AI highlight the need for responsible data management and process transparency. Practically, this means that before utilizing AI to work with a document, you need to answer three questions:
- Does the document contain confidential information or personal data?
- Do I have permission and a legal basis to share this material with an external tool?
- Can I achieve the same outcome through anonymization or by summarizing it in my own words?
In many cases, the answer to the third question is yes. Instead of sharing the entire contract, you might say: "Explain in simple terms what to focus on in a B2B cooperation agreement: termination periods, contractual penalties, copyright transfer, and party liabilities." Such a prompt allows you to obtain a useful checklist without revealing the document's contents.
If you need assistance with prompt creation or learning safe AI workflows, you can start with the materials in the AI section and straightforward step-by-step guides from the introduction..
Passwords, Codes, and Login Details: Absolutely Not
Passwords and access secrets fall into a category you should never enter into an AI chat under any circumstances. This includes passwords for email, online banking, social media, admin panels, VPNs, servers, APIs, and one-time codes. Do not enter account recovery questions or complete seed phrases for cryptocurrency wallets.
This is important even when it seems like you are just asking AI to organize your login data or create an access table for your team, just for a moment. The same rule applies in AI security as it does in cybersecurity: a secret that has been copied unnecessarily is no longer secure.
ENISA and OWASP regularly highlight the importance of access control, secret hygiene, and minimizing exposure in digital ecosystems. In practice, this means that an AI chat should not be used as a password manager. If you need assistance, ask artificial intelligence to help generate guidelines for creating strong passwords or provide a checklist for implementing a password manager, but never paste in actual login data.
Sensitive information regarding health, finances, and personal matters
Another category includes information that may be very sensitive to you personally. This encompasses detailed test results, medical records, descriptions of mental health crises, debt information, legal matters, family disputes, or situations involving children. Such content can possess a high level of sensitivity, even if it does not formally fall into the same risk category.
If you wish to use an AI assistant to organize your thoughts or draft questions for a specialist, do so with care and anonymously. Instead of sharing your entire medical history, it's better to say: “Help me prepare a list of questions for the doctor about my thyroid test results” or “Help me organize questions for a lawyer regarding a rental agreement.” This can still be beneficial without requiring the sharing of all the details.
You can also find educational content about AI and supportive use cases in tools like Luna or Friend., but always remember that even the best AI assistant cannot replace a doctor, lawyer, or security expert. This article is intended for educational purposes and does not constitute legal, medical, or financial advice.
How to write safe prompts that still work
The good news is that you don’t have to sacrifice your use of AI to protect your privacy. You only need to refine how you phrase your requests. The most practical rules are:
- minimize data, only provide what's necessary,
- anonymize, substitute real data with placeholders,
- generalize, describe the issue instead of copying the entire document,
- break the task into steps, structure first, edit later,
- check account settings and the AI provider’s policy,
- do not assume that every AI chat is private by default.
Example of an unsafe prompt: “Analyze this contract with my details, national ID number, and signature, then write a response to the contractor.”
Example of a safer prompt: “Provide a checklist for reviewing a cooperation agreement. Focus on termination, contractual penalties, liability, payment terms, and copyrights. Respond in simple language.”
The difference is significant. In the second case, artificial intelligence still assists, without receiving unnecessary data.
A simple checklist before sending a message to AI
Before you click Enter, take 10 seconds to pause and do a quick review. This is one of the best habits if you use an AI chat regularly.
- Check if the message contains personal or company data.
- Remove names, addresses, identification numbers, and signatures.
- Replace specific amounts, account numbers, and contract details with placeholders.
- Consider if you can describe the issue in more general terms.
- Ensure you are not pasting passwords, tokens, or access codes.
- If you are using it for work, review your company’s AI policy.
This brief procedure significantly enhances AI security in everyday use. Over time, it becomes a habit and won’t slow you down; rather, it helps you formulate better prompts by promoting precision and organization of information.
The most common mistake: convenience wins over common sense.
The riskiest situations usually don’t stem from ill intentions but from haste. Someone may want to quickly summarize a contract, enhance an email to a client, clarify a test result, or reorganize their notes, and without thinking, they copy everything into the AI chat. Later, it emerges that the content included third-party data, confidential business terms, or fragments that should never have been shared outside the organization.
If you want to use AI wisely, view it as a very helpful tool, but not a vault. An AI assistant can enhance your work, inspire you, suggest structures, and save you time. However, it shouldn’t be a repository for sensitive content. That is the distinction between convenience and mature use of technology.
Summary: use AI, but with a safety filter.
What should you avoid pasting into an AI chat? Above all, personal data, passwords, access codes, complete contracts, confidential documents, sensitive health information, and financial details. Instead, utilize anonymization, data minimization, and prompts that describe problems rather than copying entire content.
Artificial intelligence is incredibly useful, but AI security begins with you. You control what you enter, what you delete, and how you phrase your questions. The better you become at crafting safe prompts, the more benefits the AI chat can offer you without unnecessary risks to your privacy and data.
If you wish to build practical AI skills, start with simple rules, test safe patterns, and use reliable educational materials. This is the best way to make the AI assistant a support rather than a source of problems.
Sources
- NIST, Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework, 2023.
- OWASP, Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications, 2025.
- European Commission, Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, 2019.
- ENISA, Cybersecurity of AI and Standardisation, 2023.
- ICO, AI and Data Protection Guidance, 2024.
FAQ
Can I paste a CV with full details into an AI chat?
It's better not to. It's safer to remove the address, phone number, and other identifying details, then ask AI to improve the style, structure, and professional summary instead.
Is an AI chat suitable for contract analysis?
It can assist with creating a checklist and explaining terms, but it's not advisable to paste an entire contract containing personal details and confidential information. First, ensure the document is anonymized or describe the issue in general terms.
Can I provide AI with a password so it can evaluate it?
No. Never input a real password into an AI chat. If you want to check the strength of a password, use a fictional example or ask for general guidelines on creating strong passwords.
How can I formulate safe prompts for work?
It’s best to apply data minimization, use placeholders like [NAME] and [COMPANY], and outline the task goal instead of sharing complete documents. This way, artificial intelligence can still offer assistance while significantly reducing risks.
