A privacy checklist tuned to how you use AI
Consumer AI tools are convenient and leaky by default — many retain your chats and may train on your inputs unless you change settings. This guide asks which tools you use, what you use them for, and how sensitive your inputs are, then produces a personalised hygiene checklist: which settings to turn off, how to isolate your AI accounts, prompt habits to adopt, and the categories of data that should never enter any AI tool. It all runs in your browser.
How it works
You select your tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and others), pick your main use cases, and set a sensitivity level. The tool maps each choice to concrete actions. Selecting a tool that trains on inputs by default surfaces the exact opt-out toggle to find; a high sensitivity level adds stricter prompt hygiene and a longer “never share” list; work-related use adds employer and NDA warnings. The result is an ordered checklist you can work through once and re-run whenever your tool mix changes.
The four hygiene areas the checklist covers
Account isolation — Using a dedicated email address and a unique strong password for each AI tool separates your AI activity from your primary identity. If the account is compromised or the provider’s data practices change, the blast radius is contained. It also makes it straightforward to delete everything later.
Data-sharing settings — Most consumer AI tools have at least two toggles that affect your data: conversation history (whether past chats are stored and accessible to you) and model training (whether your inputs are used to improve the model). These are separate settings. History can be off while training is on; training can be off while history is on. The checklist tells you which to check in each tool and where to find them.
Prompt hygiene rules — Habits that reduce exposure without requiring you to use AI less. Redact before you paste: replace real names, ID numbers, and company details with placeholders when the answer doesn’t depend on the real values. Use general descriptions rather than specifics when a specific is not needed. Never paste a full document when a summary question achieves the same result.
Never-share categories — Things that should not enter any consumer AI tool regardless of settings: government-issued ID numbers, payment card numbers, passwords and account recovery codes, other people’s personal data without their informed consent, and anything covered by an employment confidentiality agreement or NDA. If a breach of that information would be a real problem, it belongs outside consumer AI tools entirely.
Settings drift and maintenance
Privacy settings in consumer AI tools can reset after major app updates. Major providers have updated their data practices and changed default settings without prominent user notification. The checklist is designed to be re-run periodically — once when you start using a new tool, and again whenever you hear about a policy or settings change for one you already use.