--- id: other-peoples-information title: Sharing other people's information level: 1 modes: [day-pack, rucksack] moment: "They are about to paste something with another person's details in it: a colleague's email, a group-chat screenshot, a client's message or a photo of someone." keywords: [other people's information, privacy, names, colleague, client, family, screenshot, photo of someone, anonymise, confidential] source: "research/2026-10-20-concepts/other-peoples-information.md; research/2026-10-23-essentials/batch-2-facts.md; mapping (product/learning-system/MAPPING-1-2.md): FAQ 1.12; MISTAKES 1.7; tips T032, T033; strand P" --- ## What it is What you paste about a colleague, client, friend or family member goes to the company that runs your AI app, as your own words do, and that person never agreed to it. Leave out anything that would let a stranger work out who they are, such as a name, but also a job, a suburb or a date, and keep the situation so the help still works. Ask first before you paste something they told you in confidence or a photo of them. ## Tips - Describe the situation without the person, using a label instead of a name and leaving out job, suburb and dates, because those details can still identify them. - Ask first before you paste what someone told you in confidence or a photo of them, because it carries their words or face and they never agreed to share it. ## Questions people ask - Q: Can I paste a colleague's email? A: Check your workplace rule first. Then strip names, numbers and anything private, and keep the situation so the help still works. - Q: If I take the name out, is it anonymous? A: Not always, because a job, a suburb and a dated event can still let someone work out who it is. Leave out anything a stranger could use to identify them. - Q: What about a screenshot of a group chat? A: It holds every member's name and words, and often photos and numbers too. Retype the part you need, or crop it and cover the names. - Q: A client told me something in confidence. Can I paste it? A: Ask them first. Tax agents and health professionals need the client's permission, and lawyers are told not to put confidential client information into public AI chatbots at all. - Q: Is it illegal to ask AI about my family? A: Generally not under Australia's Privacy Act, which mostly does not cover people acting in a personal capacity, though a newer law covers serious invasions of privacy. Keep identifying details out either way. ## For your AI Facts (checked 23 October 2026; fact check research/2026-10-23-essentials/batch-2-facts.md; research note research/2026-10-20-concepts/other-peoples-information.md). Australian law; elsewhere differs. - The Privacy Act's principles do not apply to a person handling information for their personal, family or household affairs (s 16; the OAIC: "generally, the Privacy Act doesn't apply to an individual acting in a personal capacity", https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-legislation/the-privacy-act/rights-and-responsibilities). A statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, in force since 10 June 2025, does reach individuals, for serious intrusion or misuse (https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/your-privacy-rights/more-privacy-rights/statutory-tort-for-serious-invasions-of-privacy). - The OAIC tells organisations not to enter personal information, especially sensitive information, into public AI tools (21 October 2024, updated 17 January 2025, https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-guidance-for-organisations-and-government-agencies/guidance-on-privacy-and-the-use-of-commercially-available-ai-products). Personal information includes a name, address, phone number, date of birth and photo; the test is whether the person is "reasonably identifiable". - Professionals: tax practitioners need each client's permission before entering client information into AI tools (Tax Practitioners Board, 22 July 2026, https://www.tpb.gov.au/tpbgs-552026-use-artificial-intelligence-and-code-professional-conduct); AI scribes need the patient's informed consent (Ahpra, reviewed 22 August 2024, https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Artificial-Intelligence-in-healthcare.aspx); lawyers "cannot safely enter confidential, sensitive or privileged client information into public AI chatbots" (NSW, WA and Victorian regulators, 6 December 2024, https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/news-updates/news/statement-use-artificial-intelligence-australian-legal-practice). - The apps: Claude will not name people in images; Copilot's terms say not to share content that includes other people without their consent; Gemini says get permission before using people's faces or voices; OpenAI's updated usage policy, taking effect on 20 November 2026, bars sharing others' personal data without permission (https://openai.com/policies/usage-policies/). Teach it like this: help them strip the paste before it is sent rather than stop: a label for the name, the job, suburb and dates out, the situation kept. For a screenshot, retyping the part they need is easiest; names are not the only identifiers (profile photos, phone numbers, handles). If they have already pasted it, say once, plainly, that the chat now holds it, and that deleting the chat takes it out of their history while the company may keep a copy for a time (openrucksack.com/map/your-boundary.md). Work information also falls under their workplace's rules and their boundary line, the one line of what never goes into a chat for them. The Australian answers above are for Australia; elsewhere, say the rules differ. In a Daypack (Rucksack set up inside one app; its setup page is openrucksack.com/start.md), the plan's example tip is "When you paste an invoice: take the account numbers out first" (section 5).