AI doesn't need to know who you are. Hide it first. Keep the dates and amounts.
For a letter, bill, text or email you want ChatGPT or Gemini to explain.
New to this? Try the practice bill first.
Step 1: Find what to hide
- Go line by line. Mark anything about you or your money.
- Hide your name, address, birth date, phone and email.
- Hide Social Security, Medicare, member and account numbers. Even the last 4 digits.
- Keep the dates, amounts, and the sender's name and phone. AI needs those.
Step 2: Make a clean copy
- Typing or pasting? Do it in a notes app first, not in the AI.
- Swap each detail for a label, like [MY NAME] or [ACCOUNT NUMBER].
- Holding paper? Lay thick paper or sticky notes over each detail. Then take the photo.
Step 3: Check the copy before you send
- Bills often repeat your name and account number on the tear-off stub. Cover it or fold it under.
- Photo? Zoom in. Can you read anything under the paper? Add more paper and take it again.
- Crop to just the page. No envelope, card or other papers in the shot.
Step 4: Ask AI, and say what's hidden
- Want it out of your history? Use a temporary chat. ChatGPT: in a new chat, tap Temporary. Gemini: next to New chat, tap Temporary chat (on a phone, tap Menu first).
- Paste the prompt below. Add your clean copy after it, as text or a photo. Send.
Some private details below are hidden on purpose, as [labels] or covered with paper. Don't ask me for them. First: can you still see my name, address, birth date, phone, email, or an ID, account or card number? The sender's name and phone can stay. Say only what kind and which line. Don't repeat it. Then explain this in plain words: who sent it, what it's about, every date and amount, and what I need to do. Here it is:
Step 5: If something slipped through
- Don't worry. Delete that chat. ChatGPT deletes it from its systems within 30 days. Gemini: delete it in Gemini Apps Activity. The path is under Your settings, below.
- ChatGPT saves photos you send in its Library, even after you delete the chat. Delete them there too: at chatgpt.com, open Library in the side menu. Temporary chat photos aren't saved there.
- Sent a Social Security, Medicare, bank or card number, or a password? Go to IdentityTheft.gov/Info-Lost-or-Stolen. Pick what you sent for next steps.
- Think someone is using your Medicare Number? Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY 1-877-486-2048.
Keep-out list: never send these
- Passwords, PINs and codes, like one-time or pay-online codes.
- Social Security, Medicare, bank or card numbers, even the last 4 digits.
- A photo of your Medicare card, Social Security card, driver's license or bank card.
- Other people's names and numbers. Hide them like your own.
- Health details the question doesn't need, like test results or medicines.
When to skip AI entirely
- Skip it when the paper only makes sense with your numbers in it, or it's about a login or code.
Your settings, one time
- ChatGPT: Settings, then Data controls. Turn off "Improve the model for everyone." New chats won't train its AI.
- Gemini: Settings & help, then Activity. In the phone app: Menu, then your picture, then Gemini Apps Activity. Turn off Keep Activity. New chats won't train its AI. Gemini keeps them up to 72 hours.
- Temporary chats are still kept a short time: ChatGPT up to 30 days, Gemini up to 72 hours.
- People at both companies, and their contractors, may read some chats. Gemini keeps chats a person reviewed up to 3 years, even if you delete them.
- Skip thumbs up or down on a chat with private details. That can send the whole chat for review or training.
Checked Oct 18, 2026: help.openai.com, openai.com, support.google.com/gemini, consumer.ftc.gov, identitytheft.gov, medicare.gov, ssa.gov.
Practice bill
PRACTICE - NOT REAL. Made up for this guide. Do not call the numbers.
This made-up bill has 9 kinds of private detail in 11 spots. Can you find them all?
==================== PRACTICE - NOT REAL ==================== SAMPLETOWN PRACTICE CLINIC (made up - not a real clinic) Billing Office: (212) 555-0186 Statement date: November 3, 2026 Patient: Pat Sample Address: 123 Practice Lane, Sampletown, ZZ 00000 Date of birth: January 1, 1950 (fake) Phone: (212) 555-0191 Email: pat.sample@example.com Account number: SAMPLE-0000-1234 Member ID: PRACTICE-ID-5678 Social Security number: XXX-XX-0000 (fake) Visit on October 14, 2026: knee X-ray Charge: $240.00 Paid by your plan: $180.00 You owe: $60.00 Please pay by December 3, 2026. Pay online with this access code: PRACTICE-CODE-0000 - - - - - - tear here and mail with your payment - - - - - - Pat Sample, Account SAMPLE-0000-1234 Amount due: $60.00 ==================== PRACTICE - NOT REAL ====================
To practice: tap Copy. Paste it into a notes app. Swap the 11 spots for labels. Then paste the prompt and your clean copy into AI. Send.
How did you do? A good clean copy:
- Hides the name twice (top and stub), the address, birth date, phone and email.
- Hides the account number twice (top and stub), the member ID and the Social Security line.
- Hides the pay-online access code. That's a code, so it's on the keep-out list.
- Keeps the clinic name, its Billing Office phone, every date and every amount.
- The knee X-ray is your call. Keep it only if your question is about that charge.
A good AI answer says nothing is left showing, explains the $60.00 you owe by December 3, 2026, and does not ask for the hidden details.