Before You Paste Checklist

Give AI enough context to help without sharing private details.

Start with permission

☐ Check your company’s AI policy. Use only an approved tool and account for the information involved. If permission is unclear, ask the information owner before uploading or pasting.

Check these five categories

☐ Passwords and logins: leave out passwords, access codes, API keys and recovery codes. Describe the problem without the credentials.

☐ ID and financial details: leave out social insurance or social security numbers, bank and card numbers, and ID photos. Use placeholders such as [account number removed].

☐ Named medical or legal files: leave the original file out. If appropriate, describe the general situation without names or identifying details.

☐ Confidential work: leave out non-public contract details and anything you agreed to keep private. Use a fictional example or a general description where policy allows.

☐ Other people’s private information: leave out identifiable details about colleagues, customers, family and friends. Knowing their story does not give you permission to share it.

Make the swaps yourself, before you paste

- Names → roles: “Employee A” or “a vendor.”

- Exact amounts → broad ranges, only where permitted and sufficient for the task.

- Contract and account numbers → [reference removed].

- Exact dates, locations and unusual details → general descriptions, or remove them.

Changing a name alone may leave someone identifiable. Read the whole passage again. Ranges and placeholders do not make confidential information automatically appropriate to share. Do not upload the original to AI and ask it to redact itself.

Worked example · fictional

Original to keep out: “Priya at Northstar owes us $47,380 under confidential contract NS-4821. Draft a reminder.”

Rewritten: “Draft a polite payment reminder to a vendor. Refer to [invoice reference] and [due date]. Ask for a payment update. Leave the amount blank for me to add later.”

This keeps the writing task while leaving the identifying and confidential details out. Add any required real details afterward in your approved work system.

Reusable task prompt

“Help me with [task] for [audience]. Here is the general context: [details I am permitted to share]. Use placeholders for missing names, amounts, dates and references. Do not invent them. Ask if more context is needed.”

Final check

☐ I have permission to use this tool for this task.

☐ I have checked the text, attachments, screenshots, filenames and visible background details.

☐ The remaining details do not identify someone or reveal confidential information in combination.

☐ I can add real details afterward and review the result before using it.

If unsure, pause. Use a fictional example or ask your company’s information owner. A privacy or training setting does not replace permission to share.

AI Made Simple · aimadesimple.ca