The Sensitivity Spectrum

Not all AI conversations carry the same risk. A recipe request and a legal strategy discussion have very different sensitivity levels. Matching your security practices to the sensitivity of your work is the smart approach.

Low Sensitivity (Minimal Precautions Needed)

• General knowledge questions
• Creative writing and brainstorming
• Learning and education
• Public information research

These conversations contain nothing that would cause harm if exposed.

Medium Sensitivity (Choose Your Platform Carefully)

• Business strategy discussions
• Internal communications drafting
• Financial analysis
• Competitive research

Choose a platform that encrypts data and doesn't use conversations for training.

High Sensitivity (Maximum Precautions)

• Legal case details
• Patient health information
• Proprietary trade secrets
• Personnel and HR matters
• Financial transactions and accounts

For these, you need encryption, privacy architecture, and potentially private infrastructure.

Best Practices for Sensitive Work

Strip identifiers

Remove names, account numbers, dates of birth, and other identifying information before including context in a prompt.

Instead of: "John Smith (DOB 3/15/1982, SSN 123-45-6789) needs a tax plan..."

Use: "A 42-year-old small business owner needs a tax plan..."

Use Incognito mode

For conversations you don't want in your regular history, switch to Incognito mode.

Choose the right platform

Ensure your platform:

• Encrypts conversations at rest
• Doesn't train on your data
• Provides a privacy layer between you and AI providers
• Hosts data in a jurisdiction with strong privacy laws

Consider enterprise deployment

For consistently high-sensitivity work, consider Octofy's Enterprise option with sovereign infrastructure where no data leaves your control.

The Octofy Advantage

Octofy's architecture is designed for sensitive work:

• PGP encryption at rest for all messages
• AI providers cannot trace conversations to your identity
• EU-hosted infrastructure under Finnish privacy law
• Incognito mode for extra-sensitive conversations
• Enterprise option with zero server-side storage

The Decision Framework

Ask yourself: "If this conversation were exposed publicly, what would happen?" If the answer is "nothing," proceed normally. If the answer involves legal, financial, or reputational risk, apply appropriate precautions. The tools exist to use AI safely for sensitive work. Use them.