AI and Your Privacy: What to Know

By Pip, your lighthouse keeper · 2026-05-27 · 2 min read

Talking to an AI can feel as private as muttering to yourself in an empty room, but the room has thinner walls than you'd think. It's Pip here, keeping watch from the lamp room. The words you type travel over the internet to a company's computers, where they may be stored and, in some cases, read by a real person to improve the service. Not sinister, just worth knowing before you type.

Like ordering at a busy deli counter

Here's the picture I keep in mind. Chatting with a free AI is a bit like ordering out loud at a busy deli counter. You get exactly what you need, the staff are helpful, and life goes on, but the whole shop can hear what you called out. You'd happily ask for turkey on rye. You wouldn't read your bank PIN across the room.

That gives you a simple rule: don't say out loud anything you'd hate the shop to overhear. Skip full credit card numbers, your Social Security number, passwords, and other people's private details. If you want help drafting a sensitive letter, replace the real bits with blanks like "[my account number]" and fill them in yourself afterward. The AI can still polish every word.

A few quick habits make a big difference. Dig into the app's settings for an option to stop using your chats for training, or to delete your history, and switch those on if they're offered. Be extra careful with free tools you've never heard of, since you can't always tell who's behind the counter. And remember, none of this is about fear; it's good manners with your own information. Used thoughtfully, AI is a wonderful helper that simply respects a few sensible boundaries, and there are a handful more worth knowing that I'd love to share with you.