Never enter personal customer data, financial credentials, trade secrets, or confidential information into AI tools. Generally safe: public information, anonymized data, non-sensitive internal content.
What Data Can You Safely Put Into AI Tools?
Why This Matters
Never enter personal customer data, financial credentials, trade secrets, or confidential information into AI tools. Generally safe: public information, anonymized data, non-sensitive internal content.
Under the EU AI Act, having documented AI governance demonstrates that your business takes AI compliance seriously. If regulators or clients ask how you manage AI use, pointing to established practices is far better than starting from scratch.
What You Can Usually Share
Generally safe data includes publicly available information, your own non-confidential content that needs editing, generic business questions without specific people or client references, industry knowledge and general procedures, and draft content without sensitive details. The key test: would it matter if this information appeared publicly? If not, it's probably safe.
Even with safe data, use AI tools with enterprise-grade privacy settings when available. Many providers offer business plans that don't use your data for training.
What Must Never Go In
Keep these categories strictly out of AI tools: customer personal information, financial data, health information, legal case details, employee records, passwords and credentials, trade secrets and proprietary formulas, and data subject to non-disclosure agreements.
Make this list visible and specific. Post it near workstations, include it in training, and remind your team regularly. One employee pasting client financials into ChatGPT could violate privacy laws and damage your reputation.
Handling Gray Areas
Sometimes you need AI help with something that touches sensitive data. In these cases, anonymize the data first — replace real names with fake ones, remove identifying details. Or describe the situation in general terms. Always check whether your AI provider's terms of service offer data protection that meets your needs. Enterprise tools often provide stronger protections than free consumer versions.
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Take the Readiness Check 3 minutes · 10 questions · no signup requiredThis article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Regulatory requirements change frequently — verify current rules with official sources. Built by Sawai Gyoseishoshi Office, Hiroshima, Japan.