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IBAN, social security numbers & co.: what never belongs in AI tools

AI chats are handy: paste some text, ask a question, done. That is exactly when data slips in that has no business being there. This list helps when setting rules and training staff. It is not legal advice.

1. Passwords, API keys and tokens

Credentials often hide in error messages, configurations or scripts that you "just want to check quickly". Entering them into a third-party service means losing control over who sees them. Rule of thumb: once a password or key has been pasted into an AI chat, treat it as exposed and change it.

2. Social security numbers such as the Swiss AHV number

The Swiss AHV number is a unique, lifelong personal identifier. The Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance Act explicitly regulates its systematic use (Art. 153b et seq. AHVG): outside social insurance, only bodies authorised by law may use it systematically, and they must protect it with technical and organisational measures. It has no place in an AI chat. The same applies to social security numbers from other countries.

3. Bank details and card data

Customers' IBANs and account details are personal data under data protection law and belong only in the systems they are intended for. Payment cards are also subject to the PCI DSS card standard: card numbers may only be stored in protected form, and the card verification code not at all after authorisation.

4. Health data and other sensitive personal data

Information about health, religious or political views, social assistance or criminal proceedings is considered sensitive personal data (Art. 5 let. c FADP). Stricter rules apply, for example regarding consent.

5. Customer data, IDs, contracts

Customer lists, ID numbers, company and tax numbers of business partners, unpublished contracts: anything a customer or partner has entrusted to you. Why this does not belong in ChatGPT without clarification is explained in the guide May employees enter customer data into ChatGPT?

How AI stays useful anyway

  • Work with placeholders: "Customer A", "[IBAN]", "[amount]" instead of real values. The AI's answer is usually just as good.
  • Business account, not personal: use allowed services with a contract.
  • Redact automatically: AImori recognises 242 data types in 60 packs, validates formats with a check digit where one exists, and on request replaces matches with placeholders such as [IBAN_1] – locally in the browser, before anything is sent. A local AI model also recognises names and addresses, and screenshots are read with text recognition. See all data types
  • Test first: the free test “Is this text safe to paste into ChatGPT?” highlights such data in your text without sending it.

Free for Chrome and Edge. How to get AImori · For companies

Read next: Shadow AI in small businesses · AI literacy under AI Act Art. 4

Sources

Information as of 14 October 2026.

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