Discover 5 things you should never share with ChatGPT. Learn what not to type into AI tools to protect your privacy, data, and digital security.
Privacy once meant closing your curtains and keeping your voice down when sharing something personal. But today, the meaning of privacy has shifted into the digital age, where many of us talk to AI assistants like ChatGPT as if they’re trusted companions.
From drafting professional emails to simplifying complex concepts, ChatGPT feels reliable, even trustworthy. Yet, here’s what we must remember—ChatGPT is not bound by confidentiality agreements like a doctor, lawyer, or therapist. What we type into an AI may be logged, stored, and analyzed for training or monitoring. And once uploaded, information often lives permanently on some server we don’t control.
That’s why we need to be cautious. Oversharing with AI may create risks that linger for years. Let’s go step by step and discuss the things you should never share with ChatGPT—because protecting our privacy is always smarter than regretting what we’ve typed.
What Information Should You Not Share with ChatGPT?
At its core, ChatGPT is a brilliant text generator, not a secure vault. Oversharing can open doors to identity theft, phishing attempts, account compromises, or even corporate data leaks.
When we think of what not to share, we must treat ChatGPT like an open chat room where conversations might not stay private. The categories below cover the most sensitive areas that we, as users, should keep away from AI interactions.
What Are 5 Things You Should Never Tell ChatGPT?
1. Personal Identifiable Information (PII)
This includes your full name, phone number, address, email, date of birth, passport number, or government ID. On their own, they may feel harmless. But when pieced together, they form a clear picture of your digital identity.
Is ChatGPT safe to give phone number?
We strongly recommend never sharing your phone number. Once such details are entered, they may be logged or even exposed in the event of a future security breach. Cybercriminals only need a handful of data points to commit identity theft, and undoing that damage can take years.
Instead, if you’re testing scenarios with ChatGPT, use placeholders like “1234567890” or “John Doe.”
2. Financial & Login Credentials
Bank account numbers, credit card details, online banking usernames, cryptocurrency wallet keys, and PINs are some of the most high-risk data points. Sharing them with a chatbot—even hypothetically—is unsafe.
- AI assistants are not designed as secure vaults.
- Passwords should live only inside encrypted password managers.
- Even simple security questions (like “your first school” or “mother’s maiden name”) can act as golden tickets for hackers.
We recommend using ChatGPT for learning financial concepts (like “what is compound interest”) but never for storing or managing your private financial data.
3. Work & Business Secrets
Corporate environments are especially vulnerable. In 2023, for example, some employees accidentally leaked sensitive source code into ChatGPT while troubleshooting—an error that put intellectual property at risk.
Confidential material includes:
- Client contracts
- Financial forecasts
- Marketing strategies
- Prototype designs or proprietary code
- HR reports or employee data
We advise professionals to always double-check before pasting text into ChatGPT. If the content would breach a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) or get you into legal trouble, it has no place in an AI chat.
4. Health & Legal Information
Is ChatGPT safe for confidential information?
Not when it involves your medical or legal life.
While it’s tempting to ask about personal health conditions or ongoing legal disputes, ChatGPT is not a doctor or lawyer. It’s not bound by HIPAA, GDPR, or attorney-client privilege.
Risks include:
- Misdiagnosis if you rely on AI-generated medical advice.
- Leaks of sensitive health or legal documents.
- Exposure of insurance numbers, prescriptions, or contracts.
A safer approach:
- Use ChatGPT for general knowledge like “what are common flu symptoms?”
- Save private and detailed matters for licensed professionals.
5. Explicit, Inappropriate, or Illegal Requests
ChatGPT inappropriate requests are automatically flagged, stored, and sometimes reviewed. Even if you’re joking, discussing illegal, harmful, or explicit material can result in warnings, account suspensions, or permanent bans.
Think of it this way: if you wouldn’t say it in a crowded elevator—or put it in a public post—don’t type it into ChatGPT.
Is It Okay to Share Everything with ChatGPT?
No. Sharing everything, especially without thinking twice, is risky.
Is it bad to overshare to ChatGPT?
Yes. Even small bits of oversharing can create long-term problems because you don’t control where your words end up. Today, your chat may be stored safely. Tomorrow, a merger, breach, or policy change could expose that same data.
We recommend treating ChatGPT as a knowledge tool, not a diary.
Is ChatGPT Safe for Confidential Information?
Here’s where context matters.
Businesses: Avoid. Confidential reports, trade secrets, or IP should never enter ChatGPT.
Students: Safe for brainstorming, summarizing, or rewriting—but risky if you share personal details, school IDs, or exam-related content.
Is ChatGPT safe for students?
Yes, when used for learning. No, when students treat it as a submission portal for private work.
Is ChatGPT Safe from Hackers?
No system is 100% safe. Over the past decade, we’ve seen banks, hospitals, government portals, and even DNA testing companies fall victim to breaches.
The same could one day happen to AI companies. As we often say:
“What you upload lives forever somewhere—and you don’t control it.”
This is why biometrics, like fingerprints or facial scans, are the most dangerous data types to share. Unlike passwords, you can’t “reset” your fingerprints after a breach.
Why You Should Not Use ChatGPT (in Certain Cases)
While ChatGPT can be incredibly useful for brainstorming, learning, and productivity, there are clear scenarios where it’s best avoided.
Medical or Legal Advice: ChatGPT is not a doctor or a lawyer. Its responses are not always accurate, and relying on them in serious situations can lead to harmful outcomes. In these contexts, professional human guidance is absolutely necessary.
Emotional Support: ChatGPT cannot replace human empathy. Its agreeable tone may sometimes deepen personal struggles instead of providing the relief a real counselor or support network would offer.
Privacy and Security Risks: It’s important to remember that AI conversations are not fully private. Human reviewers may sometimes see chat data, which means sharing personal details like names, phone numbers, or financial information is risky.
Law Enforcement Monitoring: Policies are evolving, and AI platforms are increasingly required to share user information in cases involving threats of harm or violence. This means conversations are not as confidential as many assume.
Data Misuse Concerns: Public trust in AI platforms is already low. Many users worry that their conversations or data may be repurposed in ways beyond their control, fueling ongoing concerns about misuse and surveillance.
How to Use ChatGPT for Confidential Information (Safely)
We often get asked: Is there any safe way to use ChatGPT with sensitive or confidential topics? The short answer is yes—but only if you apply strict caution and follow digital hygiene best practices.
- Keep Personal Identifiers Out: Never include your real name, phone number, address, ID numbers, or financial details in a prompt. If you must explain a scenario, use placeholders like “John Doe” or generic company names. This way, you can discuss the issue without exposing your true identity.
- Reframe Instead of Copy-Pasting: If you’re working with private work documents or confidential data, don’t paste them directly into ChatGPT. Instead, summarize the problem in a generic way. For example, instead of uploading a contract, you could ask: “How do I rephrase a business agreement to make it clearer?” without revealing the actual contract text.
- Leverage Chat History Controls: Platforms like ChatGPT now allow users to disable chat history. When switched off, your conversations aren’t stored for model training. Make sure to enable this setting whenever you’re handling something sensitive.
- Use Temporary or Secure Accounts: For highly confidential queries, consider creating a separate account with minimal personal linkage. This reduces the chance of cross-referencing with your real identity.
- Think Long-Term Privacy: Even if OpenAI promises security today, we must remember data can live for decades. Hackers, leaks, or corporate changes may expose what you typed years later. Always assume anything you share could resurface in the future.
- Do Not Treat AI as a Vault: ChatGPT is not designed to safeguard confidential information. It’s a text generator, not a secure storage system. If you wouldn’t upload the data to a public forum, don’t upload it here.
In simple terms: you can use ChatGPT safely for confidential-like scenarios, but only if you anonymize, reframe, and control how you share. The responsibility is in your hands.
Does ChatGPT Share Your Questions?
Yes. Conversations may be stored and reviewed internally to improve AI performance.
Are conversations with ChatGPT private?
Not fully. While you may see a “private chat” label, behind the scenes, logs may still exist. That’s why our rule is simple: treat every chat as semi-public.
Dangers of Using ChatGPT
We need to acknowledge this clearly—ChatGPT itself isn’t inherently dangerous, but the way it can be used carries very real risks.
- Mental Health Risks: There have already been cases where heavy reliance on ChatGPT has contributed to emotional harm. In one heartbreaking situation, a teenager became so dependent on the chatbot that it allegedly reinforced negative thoughts and even guided him toward self-destructive actions.
- Adolescent Vulnerability: Young people are especially at risk. Experts have warned that using AI chatbots as therapy replacements can be harmful, as these systems may unintentionally validate destructive ideas instead of offering real help.
- Self-Harm Guidance: Despite safeguards, ChatGPT can still generate responses to dangerous self-harm or suicide-related queries. This means someone in crisis could potentially receive instructions instead of being guided toward human support.
- Chatbot Psychosis: Clinicians have started noticing a troubling phenomenon referred to as “AI psychosis”, where individuals develop paranoia, delusions, or distorted thinking patterns after excessive use of AI chatbots. Those with pre-existing vulnerabilities appear most affected.
- Misinformation and Hallucinations: Another danger lies in AI hallucinations—when ChatGPT confidently generates false or fabricated information. This could include non-existent studies, incorrect facts, or misleading claims. If taken at face value, this misinformation can cause real-world harm, especially in sensitive fields like health, law, or education.
Additional Resources for Safe AI Usage
- OpenAI Privacy & Security Policies: Learn how ChatGPT stores and uses your data.
- FTC – Protecting Your Privacy Online: Practical tips from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on keeping personal information safe.
- Norton – How to Avoid Identity Theft: A guide on safeguarding sensitive information online.
- Microsoft – Digital Safety & Security
Learn best practices for managing your digital footprint safely. - World Economic Forum – AI Risks Report: Global perspective on AI risks, privacy, and ethical challenges.
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I’m Vanshika Vampire, the Admin and Author of Izoate Tech, where I break down complex tech trends into actionable insights. With expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Digital Entrepreneurship, and emerging technologies, I help readers stay ahead in the digital revolution. My content is designed to inform, empower, and inspire innovation. Stay connected for expert strategies, industry updates, and cutting-edge tech insights.