Nano-lesson · usually takes 2–3 minutes
What you never type into an AI
Everything you write to a chatbot leaves the building. Here's the line you shouldn't cross.
Data leaves the building
You've got a long document, and a chatbot can summarise it in ten seconds. But the moment you paste the text in, you've sent it to a supplier — often in another country. It's not like opening a file on your own computer; it's like emailing it to a stranger.
This must never go into an AI tool your workplace hasn't authorised
- Names and details about customers, citizens, patients or colleagues — even just a national insurance number in a sentence.
- Health, illness, absence — that information is specially protected.
- Passwords, keys and access codes. Ever.
- Contracts, prices and drawings that competitors mustn't see.
The good habit
Ask yourself: would I email this to a supplier? If the answer is no, it shouldn't go into the chatbot either. If you still need the help, remove the personal details first — "a customer" instead of a name, "an employee" instead of a colleague.
But some tools you MAY use
That doesn't mean AI is banned. Some subscriptions are bought specifically for work, because the supplier has signed to say that what you type in isn't shared with others and isn't used to train the model. That's the difference between the tool your workplace pays for and the free one a colleague stumbled across. You can't see the difference on screen — it's in the agreement. So don't guess: ask your manager or the person responsible which tools you may use, and stick to them.
Remember
Question 1 of 3
You need to write a reply to a dissatisfied customer and want help from a chatbot. What do you do?
✓ Correct!
You get the same help without handing over the customer's details. Whether the tool "remembers" isn't the point — it has already received them.
Question 2 of 3
A colleague has found a free AI tool that's "much better than the one we have". May you use it for work tasks?
✓ Correct!
Authorisation isn't about the price, but about whether there's an agreement on what the supplier may do with what you send.
Question 3 of 3
When is it okay to paste a password into a chatbot to get help?
✓ Correct!
Never. A password in a chat is a password you've given away — and test accounts have a way of becoming real accounts.
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