Confidentiality & Data Handling: What You Can Paste Into AI

The fastest way to create risk is to paste sensitive client information into an unvetted system. This lesson gives practical rules for safe inputs.

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Key takeaways

• Confidentiality risk is tool-dependent: understand vendor settings.
• Anonymize and minimize inputs when possible.
• Adopt a data classification approach for AI usage.

Start with data classification

Before using any AI tool, decide what category the information falls into: public, internal, confidential, privileged, regulated (PII/PHI). Your allowed input rules should flow from that.

Safer prompting patterns

• Use anonymized fact patterns: replace names, dates, and unique details.
• Use excerpts: provide only the needed portion of a document.
• Use secure environments: enterprise tools with clear retention/training controls.

Practical do/don’t list