Tutorials · Chapter A (1/4) · ~9 min

Privacy and smart sharing

Try it → see it → read → next

Treat chat boxes like postcards — lots of systems might read them later.

Try yourself

Playground

Share or hide?

One item at a time — decide what is OK to paste into a chatbot.

Message 1 of 6

A public recipe you want rewritten

Recap

What you just did

You practiced a paste filter. AI apps are convenient dumping grounds: whole contracts, medical PDFs, customer lists, API keys, kids’ school reports, screenshots of banking apps. Once text leaves your device, it may be stored, reviewed for safety, used to improve services (policy-dependent), or exposed in a breach. Smart sharing means you get help without handing over secrets you wouldn’t put on a shared office whiteboard.

Teach

How it works

See it

Smart sharing ladder

1
HideDon’t paste it
2
ScrubRemove names / IDs
3
AskIs this tool private enough?

Climb down before you paste anything sensitive

Climb the ladder in See it: Hide → Scrub → Ask.

Never paste passwords, IDs, keys, or client data. Often OK if scrubbed: vague problems, secrets removed, public drafts. Ask first on NDA / school rules. Technique: redact then prompt — keep the structure, drop the identifiers.

Use it

When you'd use this

Before you hit send on a “summarize this PDF” ask — skim for secrets.
Choosing tools at work — prefer ones your company blessed for sensitive data.
Helping a friend use AI — teach redaction as the first habit, not the last.

Watch out

Screenshots leak as much as text (QR codes, email sidebars, Slack DMs). “Incognito” browser mode doesn’t make the AI company’s servers forget. Also: pasting secrets into a “local-sounding” app still needs you to confirm where the bits actually go.

Try next

Try this next

Take one real email or note you’d want help rewriting. Produce a redacted version in 2 minutes (fake names, no IDs). Paste only the scrubbed version into any AI you use.