What Not to Paste into AI Chatbots: Sensitive Info Examples

Imagine this: Sarah, a busy marketing manager, logs into ChatGPT late one night. She pastes her work email login details to ask for help drafting a response. Days later, her account falls victim to hackers who drain her linked bank balance. Stories like hers happen more often than you think. In 2025, a massive 116GB Elasticsearch leak exposed prompts, chat histories, and bearer tokens from AI apps. Hackers used those to generate images or buy credits. Another stat shocks: 77% of workers paste company data into personal AI tools without permission. Public AI chatbots store inputs for up to 30 days. Staff review them. Companies train models on them. Breaches hit when databases stay open or third parties slip up.

These tools connect to emails, drives, and apps now. Prompt tricks let attackers steal data in seconds. OpenAI cut ties with Mixpanel after a 2025 hack leaked user tracking. Chrome extensions stole chats from 900,000 users. This post covers real incidents from 2024 to 2026, types of risky data, rules from AI firms, and steps to stay safe. You’ll spot dangers before they bite.

Shocking Leaks from User Prompts in AI Tools

Hackers love AI chatbots. They turn casual chats into goldmines. Take the ZombieAgent attack on ChatGPT in late 2025. Attackers hid malicious prompts in emails or Slack files. Users asked the bot to summarise their inbox. It obeyed the hidden orders, leaked email details bit by bit, and sent them to hackers via secret links. Patched quickly, but it showed how agents grab data without users noticing. For more on this persistent threat, check ZombieAgent ChatGPT attack details.

Then came Reprompt in 2026 against Microsoft Copilot. A single fake link tricked the bot into spilling data with one click. It worked even after users closed the chat. No plugins needed. Bypassed defences. Researchers fixed it fast, yet these tricks spread as AI links deepen with apps. Shadow AI adds fuel: workers dodge company rules, pasting memos into free tools. One slip, and client lists go public.

Anthropic faced heat in 2024 when a staffer emailed customer names and balances by mistake. Slack AI let prompts exfiltrate data too. OpenAI’s Mixpanel breach in November 2025 exposed tracking tied to chats. Human costs mount. Fraudsters craft phishing from leaked details. Victims lose savings or jobs. Trends worsen with agentic AI. Bots act alone, export records to bad actors. A 2025 Chrome extension scam grabbed 900,000 ChatGPT sessions. Numbers climb into 2026.

Open Databases Spill Chat Histories

AI startups rushed apps in 2025. Many left logs unprotected. Prompts, histories, and tokens sat in open Elasticsearch buckets. Hackers scripted bots to scour them. They minted API credits or ran image gens for free. One breach dumped bearer tokens worth thousands. Users woke to drained accounts or wild outputs.

Workers Paste Company Data on the Sly

Surveys peg it at 77%. Employees tweak webpages or edit memos in personal chats. No oversight. Data lands in shared pools. Personal accounts amplify risks: one hack hits home and work. Firms ban it, but temptation wins. A quick summary seems harmless until breaches strike.

Everyday Info That Puts You at Risk

People paste without thinking. A bank statement for budget tips. A CV for rewrite help. Each shares slices of your life. Hackers stitch them into profiles. Public tools log everything. Breaches expose it all. Here’s what stays off the clipboard.

Personal Details Hackers Hunt

Names, addresses, phone numbers, national IDs. Paste a CV? You hand over home turf. Picture hackers building fake profiles. They open accounts in your name. Identity theft follows. One user shared a job history chat. Thieves applied for loans with it. Tools like GDPR demand care. Yet prompts leak easy.

Money Matters You Must Hide

Card numbers, bank accounts, invoices. Ask AI to parse a statement? Numbers print in logs. Hackers spot them in dumps. Query an invoice total? Full details slip. Victims face drained funds. Scams spike post-leak. Cover statements first. Use fake digits.

Health Secrets Stay Private

Diagnoses, records, symptoms. UK laws like GDPR mirror US HIPAA. Paste a medical history for advice? It trains models or hits breaches. Wrong advice spreads too, as ZombieAgent proved. One chat detailed a rare condition. Hackers sold it on dark webs. Doctors warn: bots aren’t confidential.

Business secrets hurt too. Client lists, source code, NDAs. A developer pasted code snippets. Competitors copied features. NDAs break in logs. Scenarios stack up. You ask for contract tweaks with real names. Data lives forever in training sets. Relatable pain: that rushed evening query costs months of fixes.

Rules Straight from AI Makers

AI giants spell it out. OpenAI bans PII, financial data, health info, trade secrets in public tools. They store chats 30 days. Staff peek for abuse. Data feeds models unless you opt out. Enterprise versions lock it down better. No training use. Paid plans offer deletes.

Anthropic echoes this. No sensitive prompts. Google Gemini flags health or finance. Microsoft Copilot ties to work accounts with controls. All stress placeholders. Swap “my bank PIN” for “1234”. Quote OpenAI: “Don’t share info that can identify you.” Free tiers riskiest. Logs persist. Breaches hit vendors like Mixpanel.

Enterprise shines. Data stays in-house. Audits run. For 2026 risks, see top AI security threats updated. Firms train staff. Policies save faces. Free users, read terms. Delete chats. Zero retention where possible.

Safe Tricks to Use AI Without Worry

You don’t ditch AI. Smart habits protect. Anonymise first. “[Client A] sales hit 10k” beats real names. Summarise upstream. Paste overviews, not originals. Enterprise tools block leaks.

Delete chats pronto. Opt out of training. Check policies per bot. Use incognito or local models. Tools like privateGPT run offline. Audit history. Spot past slips.

Grok chats leaked via shares in 2025, indexed by Google. See Grok exposure report. Avoid share buttons. These steps dodge 90% of risks. Feel the power back.

In the end, leaks like ZombieAgent and Reprompt remind us: inputs echo. Sensitive data never pastes into public bots. We’ve covered breaches, risky types, rules, and fixes. Audit your history today. Spot old prompts. Share this post to warn mates.

Safe AI awaits those who pause before paste. Picture chats that help, not haunt. What’s your closest call? Drop it below. Stay sharp in 2026.