AI at WorkWhat not to paste into an AI tool: a safe-use checklist
Once you paste something into a chatbot, it has left your control. Decide before you paste, not after.
Why this matters
When you use an online AI tool, your text goes to the company's servers. What happens next depends on the tool, the plan and your settings: it may be stored in your history, reviewed by people for safety or quality, or used to improve the company's models. The official pages of the tools say so (we read them: see the privacy pages on this site). Even if a company is careful, a mistake, a stolen account or a shared computer can expose what you pasted. So the safe habit is to paste only what you would be comfortable seeing leaked.
Never paste
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Identity numbers | Aadhaar, PAN, passport, driving licence, voter ID |
| Money and accounts | Bank account and card numbers, UPI PIN, OTP, net-banking passwords, cheque images |
| Passwords and keys | Any password, recovery code, API key, private key, login link |
| Other people's private details | Clients' or students' names with their addresses, phone numbers, marks, health, income, GSTIN with business details |
| Confidential work | Contracts under confidentiality, unreleased results, exam papers before the exam, internal salary lists |
| Medical and legal records | Reports, prescriptions, case papers of a named person |
Remove details first
You can often get the same help with the details removed:
- Replace names with roles: "Customer A", "Student 3", "the landlord".
- Replace exact figures with round or invented ones that keep the same pattern (a loss of about a tenth of turnover).
- Remove addresses, phone numbers, emails, account numbers and dates of birth.
- Describe the problem instead of pasting the file: "A GST notice asks for a reply about a mismatch between two returns. Draft an outline for a reply".
- Check pasted files, spreadsheets and screenshots for hidden details: other sheets, comments, document properties and the edges of pictures.
Settings that help
Most tools let you turn off the use of your chats for training, use a temporary or incognito chat, and delete chats. The three pages about ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on this site list what each company's help page says and where the switches are. Remember that these settings change how your data is used later, not what happens to it in transit, and that feedback buttons can have their own rules (some tools use the whole conversation when you click thumbs up or down).
At work, follow the rules of the workplace
If you work for a company, a school, a bank or a government office, your employer may forbid or limit the use of public AI tools with its data. Ask. If a client has an agreement with you, check that it allows sharing their data with a service provider.
If you pasted something you should not have
- Delete the chat in the tool.
- Check the privacy settings and turn off training use.
- Change any password or key that was shown.
- Tell the person responsible at your workplace if it was someone else's data. Hiding it makes it worse.
Is a paid plan safe for confidential data?
Not automatically. Business and enterprise plans usually have stricter terms, but you must read the terms of the plan that you actually use. See the comparison page for what the official pages say.
Can I paste a fake client name and real figures?
Real figures can identify a client if the amounts are unusual. Round them or change them.
This is an independent guide. It is not connected with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft or any other AI company; product names belong to their owners. Statements about companies are taken from their own help pages as read on 13 and 14 November 2026. The prompts are our own wording and were not run against every tool. Not legal, financial or professional advice.