What should never go into a prompt

The safest default is simple: if leaking the information would create legal, financial, customer, or operational risk, do not paste it directly into a public or unclear AI workflow.

• API keys, passwords, tokens, and private credentials.
• Customer personal information that is not required for the task.
• Unreleased financial data, internal strategy, or legal documents without approval.
• Private code or proprietary material that should stay inside controlled systems.

Use summaries instead of raw data

Many tasks do not require the full original material. You can often replace names, values, and identifiable details with placeholders while keeping enough context for the AI to help.

This reduces risk while still letting you get value from the tool.

Create a team rule for sensitive workflows

The biggest security failures are often procedural, not technical. Teams need a shared rule for what can be pasted, what must be redacted, and which tasks should stay in approved systems.

A lightweight checklist is better than relying on memory under pressure.

Ask whether the task really needs AI

Sometimes AI is useful for the wrong task. If the job requires raw confidential material, regulated data, or legal interpretation, the safest move may be to keep it outside a general AI chat.

Build safer prompts by default

Security-aware prompting is not only about blocking information. It is about shaping requests so the model can help without requiring the sensitive material itself.

• Ask for templates, not confidential final documents.
• Ask for review checklists, not raw sensitive records.
• Ask for placeholder-based rewrites, not production secrets.
• Ask for structure and decision criteria before sharing any detail.

How this article was reviewed

• This page was reviewed to keep the advice operational and cautionary, not legal or regulatory advice.
• Sensitive-data examples were kept broad enough to be practical without encouraging risky “just paste it” behavior.
• The final pass emphasized redaction, approval paths, and safer alternatives such as summaries and placeholders.

Quick checklist

• Do not paste secrets, credentials, or private identifiers into a general AI chat.
• Replace names, account numbers, and internal references with placeholders when possible.
• Check whether the task truly requires the original sensitive material before involving AI at all.

Questions to test the advice

• If this chat were accidentally shared, what harm could the exposed information cause?
• Can the AI still help if you provide a sanitized summary instead of the raw document?
• Does your team have a written rule for approval, redaction, and storage of AI-assisted work?

Selected references