What should you never upload to an AI chatbot?

Never upload passwords, authentication codes, private keys, or information you are not authorized to share. Treat personal records, restricted course material, research data, and other people’s information as requiring careful permission and handling.

Keep secrets and unauthorized information out of the chat

Examples include identity documents, financial-aid records, private messages, unpublished research, and confidential internship files. Removing a name may not make a record anonymous if other details still identify someone. Do not assume that a school-related task makes a personal consumer account an approved destination.

Use an institution-approved process when sensitive information is genuinely necessary, and ask the responsible office what is allowed. For ordinary practice, use fictional or minimized examples. Check retention, sharing, and training settings, but remember that a privacy setting does not grant permission to disclose someone else’s data.

Your next steps

• Remove credentials and information you lack permission to share.
• Use fictional or minimized examples when possible.
• Confirm the approved service and handling rules for sensitive work.