EXPERTS WARN: WHICH DOCUMENTS YOU SHOULD NEVER UPLOAD TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence can be extremely useful in everyday tasks, but a single mistake when using an AI service could seriously compromise your privacy.

Experts are warning users about the types of documents and personal information that should never be uploaded to public AI services.

When using artificial intelligence, users should avoid sharing personal data, photographs of identification documents and other confidential information whenever possible. Once such information is uploaded to an AI service, users may no longer have full control over where the data is stored, how long it is retained or whether it could be used for other purposes.

“Only the data that is genuinely necessary to complete a task should be transferred to an artificial intelligence service,” said Yuri Silayev, head of the Department for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence at the Russian Technological University, according to RIA Novosti.

He warns that photographs of personal identification documents, bank cards, insurance policies and tickets containing QR codes should never be uploaded to public AI services.

The same caution applies to sensitive personal information such as home addresses, dates of birth, identification document numbers and telephone numbers.

EXTRA CAUTION WITH FINANCIAL AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Particular care is required when dealing with financial and legal documentation.

Bank statements, contracts, powers of attorney and tax returns can contain large amounts of confidential information. Even when a user only needs AI to explain a small section of a document, there is a risk that the entire file could be uploaded, potentially exposing sensitive information.

The same principle applies to medical records, which contain not only information about a person's health but also numerous personal details about the patient.

If it is absolutely necessary for an AI system to analyse a medical document, Silayev recommends removing or obscuring the patient's surname, date of birth, insurance policy number, barcodes and QR codes before uploading the file.

BUSINESS DOCUMENTS CAN ALSO POSE A RISK

The expert stresses that caution is not limited to personal information. Users should also be careful when working with confidential business documents.

Internal correspondence, commercial offers, draft contracts, source code, customer databases and financial reports should not be uploaded to public AI services, as doing so could result in confidential information being exposed and could potentially violate contractual obligations.

If uploading a document is unavoidable, users are advised to remove all names, addresses, identification numbers, banking information, QR codes, signatures and organisation names beforehand.

The general principle is simple: the less sensitive information shared with an AI service, the lower the risk of that data being further distributed or used for purposes that the user did not intend.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into everyday life and professional workflows, experts say that responsible data handling should remain a key part of using these technologies safely.