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# Privacy & Safety Basics
- URL: https://www.plainai.help/privacy-safety-basics/
- Published: 2026-09-11T21:48:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T22:08:34.000Z
- Author: Cody Simpson
- Tags: Start Here

You don't need to be paranoid about AI — but you do need a few ground rules, the same way you'd have ground rules for email or online banking.

## The Golden Rule

Don't type anything into an AI chat that you wouldn't be okay with a stranger reading.

Most AI companies use conversations to improve their systems unless you've turned that off in settings, and mistakes happen. Treat it like a semi-public notebook, not a locked diary.

## Keep these out of AI chats

- Full Social Security numbers, account numbers, or passwords
- Medical records with identifying details (your name + full history together)
- Anything you're legally required to keep confidential (work-related, if your employer has policies — check first)
- Photos of IDs, cards, or documents with sensitive info visible
- Details that could identify someone else without their okay (a friend's private situation, a coworker's personal issue)

## Perfectly fine to share

- General questions ("how do 15-year mortgages work")
- Drafts of things you plan to say publicly anyway (emails, posts, letters)
- Non-identifying versions of a real situation ("a family member is dealing with X — general advice for that")
- Documents you own and want summarized (just skip anything with SSNs/account numbers first)

## Two habits that cover almost everything

1. **Swap in placeholders for sensitive specifics.** Instead of your real account number, type "\[account number\]" — the AI can still help with the surrounding text.
2. **Check your privacy settings once.** Most AI tools let you turn off "use my chats to improve the model." Takes two minutes, worth doing.

## One more thing: verify before you act

This isn't really a privacy issue, but it belongs here — AI can sound completely confident and still be wrong. Before you act on anything with real consequences (money, health, legal), double-check it against a real source: your bank, your doctor, an actual document. Lesson 2 already covered which tasks need this — this is just the safety net.

## Quick recap

**Would a stranger reading this bother you?** → If yes, don't type it in

**Sensitive numbers** → Use placeholders instead

**Privacy settings** → Turn off chat-training use once, in settings

**High-stakes info** → Verify with a real source before acting

**Next up —** [***Lesson 5: Your First 3 Real Tasks***](https://www.plainai.help/your-first-3-real-tasks/), where you'll actually use everything from Lessons 1-4 on something real.