A Warning on Privacy and Safety
AI is an amazing tool, but it should never be treated as private or secure. There is a big difference between generating meal planning prompts and uploading pictures of your children! Any information entered into an AI service can be stored, reviewed, or used in internal research by the owner. The privacy settings may vary by company, account type, and product, so do your homework and think twice before sharing personal data. In fact, I actively discourage you from entering private information! If you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing it on a public social media post or e-mail, don’t entrust it to an AI. Give it the minimum necessary information to complete the task. Less is more, and a little mystery is attractive! Just like dating. Only don’t date AI. Please.
Below is a list of significant information to avoid posting and why.
Children’s Full Names
Avoid entering a child’s full name, especially in concert with other identifying information like age, school, city, activities, or medical needs.
A full name may seem harmless by itself, but several small details can be combined to identify a child. This is sometimes called re-identification. For example, a child’s full name, grade level, soccer team, and hometown may make that child relatively easy to locate.
Instead of writing:
Create a reading plan for Benjamin Lee Hall, a nine-year-old who attends Oak Ridge Academy in Knoxville.
Write:
Create a reading plan for a nine-year-old fourth-grade student who enjoys science and adventure stories.
The AI does not need the child’s identity to provide useful assistance.
Home Addresses and Precise Locations
Do not provide your street address, apartment number, gate code, daily route, or precise location.
This information can reveal where your family lives, where children may be present, when the home may be empty, or how someone could gain access to the property.
For location-based suggestions, provide only the general area necessary for the task. A city, state, region, or climate zone is often enough.
Instead of writing:
Build a garden plan for my home at 123 Main Street.
Write:
Build a garden plan for a home in Oklahoma with hot summers and clay soil.
School Names, Account Details, and Student Information
Avoid sharing school names, student identification numbers, login credentials, teacher contact information, report cards, individualized education plans, disciplinary records, or private student communications.
Educational records may contain sensitive information about a child’s abilities, behavior, health, learning challenges, or family situation. Uploading an entire school document can reveal far more than is necessary for the question being asked.
Remove names, identification numbers, school logos, teacher names, and contact information before using AI to help summarize or organize educational materials.
Instead of uploading a complete student report, copy only the non-identifying portion you need help understanding.
Passwords and Security Information
Never enter passwords, passcodes, security questions, authentication codes, recovery phrases, or account numbers into an AI tool.
An AI assistant does not need your actual password to help you create a password-management routine or explain how security works. Sharing authentication information could expose email, financial, school, shopping, or social-media accounts.
You can ask:
What makes a password strong?
Do not ask:
Is MyActualPassword123! a strong password?
Use a fictional example instead.
Financial Account Numbers
Do not share bank account numbers, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, tax identification numbers, investment account information, or images of financial statements that contain identifying details.
Financial information can be used for fraud, identity theft, unauthorized account access, or targeted scams. Even partial information may be risky when combined with a name, address, phone number, or date of birth.
AI can still help with budgeting when you use categories and rounded figures.
Instead of sharing a full bank statement, write:
Our monthly take-home income is approximately $5,000. We spend about $1,500 on housing, $700 on food, and $600 on transportation. Help us create a basic budget.
Medical and Mental Health Information
Be cautious about sharing diagnoses, prescription details, medical records, insurance information, therapy notes, reproductive information, or a child’s developmental history.
Health information is deeply personal and may affect privacy, dignity, insurance matters, employment, or family relationships. AI can also misunderstand symptoms, overlook important context, or provide inaccurate advice.
Use general, non-identifying descriptions whenever possible, and consult a qualified healthcare professional for diagnosis or treatment decisions.
For example:
Suggest general meal-planning questions I can discuss with a registered dietitian.
This is safer than uploading a complete medical file.
Private Family Conflicts
Avoid sharing names, screenshots, private messages, or detailed accusations involving family, friends, and other people in your life. AI receives only the version of the situation that is entered. It cannot independently verify what happened, understand every relationship dynamic, or predict how advice may affect the people involved.
Detailed family disputes may also expose personal information about people who did not consent to having their experiences shared. This violates their privacy and create a moral dilemma that is more than you want to carry.
If you have to discuss your family situation, use broad descriptions:
Help me prepare calm questions for a family conversation about dividing household responsibilities.
Avoid entering private conversations word for word unless all identifying details have been removed and there is a compelling reason to do so.
There is a growing trend to use AI as a 24/7 on-demand counselor and confidant. Please, please, please do not fall into this ditch. AI can never substitute for the incredible power of human connection and relationship. It lacks the divine spark that allows to relate to one another in deep and meaningful ways. If you are lonely, I’ll have a blog post on what to do instead of turning to AI for personal help that you may enjoy reading. And frankly, AI can become ingratiating and patronizing. The last thing you need a voice whispering in your ear that you’re right if you’re biased, dead wrong, and need to fall on your knees and beg the forgiveness of whoever has your anger!
Identifying Photographs
Think carefully before uploading photographs of children, family members, identification cards, schoolwork, medical forms, or the inside of your home.
Images may reveal more than expected, including:
- faces
- names on papers or backpacks
- school uniforms
- house numbers
- street signs
- vehicle license plates
- medication labels
- computer screens
- family photographs
- location information embedded in the file
Before uploading an image, crop unnecessary areas, blur identifying details, and remove metadata when possible.
Daily Schedules and Travel Plans
Avoid sharing precise information about when family members leave home, where children will be, who will be supervising them, or when the household will be away.
A detailed prompt such as “We will be out of town from June 10 through June 17, and our children stay home alone every afternoon” creates unnecessary security risks.
Use general language instead:
Create a pre-vacation home checklist for a one-week family trip.
The AI does not need exact dates, addresses, or supervision arrangements to help.
Proprietary or Confidential Information
Homemakers may also manage information connected to an employer, church, cooperative, homeschool group, volunteer organization, or small business. Do not paste confidential rosters, financial reports, internal messages, unreleased plans, customer information, or copyrighted materials into an AI system without authorization.
When in doubt, summarize the situation without including names or confidential details.
Use the Minimum-Information Principle
Before entering information into an AI tool, ask:
- Does the AI actually need this detail?
- Can I replace the name with a general description?
- Can I remove addresses, numbers, and dates?
- Can I provide a summary instead of the entire document?
- Would I be comfortable if this information were stored?
- Am I sharing information about someone who has not consented?
- Could several harmless details be combined to identify my family?
Most household and homeschool tasks can be completed using general information.
For example, AI usually needs to know:
- the number of people in the household
- approximate ages
- dietary preferences
- the general grade level
- the available amount of time
- a broad budget range
- the type of climate
- the desired outcome
It usually does not need names, addresses, account numbers, school names, or private records.
A Safer Prompting Example
Less private:
My daughter Emma Grace Wilson is eight, attends Lincoln Elementary, has ADHD, takes a specific prescription, and is struggling with her teacher, Mrs. Smith. Create a homeschool-style afternoon routine for her.
More private:
Create a calm after-school routine for an eight-year-old who benefits from short tasks, movement breaks, visual reminders, and limited transitions.
The second prompt provides the information needed to create a useful routine without identifying the child or revealing unnecessary medical and educational details.
Remember: Helpful Does Not Mean Confidential
An AI assistant may feel supportive and personal, but it is still a technology service. Treat it as a planning tool, not your therapist’s notebook.
Protecting privacy does not mean avoiding AI. It means using AI thoughtfully: share less, remove identifying details, check privacy settings, and keep sensitive family information in secure places designed for confidential records.