---
title: "Confidentiality before you paste into an AI tool"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/knowledge-management/know-how/confidentiality-before-you-paste"
type: "know_how_note"
site: "AI Law Framework"
kind: "Confidentiality"
checked: "2026-10-10"
---

# Confidentiality before you paste into an AI tool

> Name the tool and the plan, and do not paste client material into a tool whose terms you cannot explain.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/knowledge-management/know-how/confidentiality-before-you-paste  
Checked: 2026-10-10

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

This is general information about using AI in legal work in Australia. It is not legal advice, and it is not a decision on your matter, your client or your court.

## Steps

1. **Name the tool and the plan.** A free public chatbot and a firm tenant are not the same product. Write down which one you are about to use.
2. **Read what happens to the text.** Find out whether the plan uses the text to train a model, who at the supplier can see it, and where it is stored. If you cannot answer that, do not paste client material.
3. **Remove what the task does not need.** Strip names, file numbers and unique facts when the task can be done on a de-identified example. Many checks can.
4. **Do not paste what you are not free to disclose.** That includes privileged advice the client has not been told about, and another party’s material you are not free to put into that tool.
5. **Treat the prompt as a record.** Decide whether the prompt belongs on the matter file, who can read it, and how long it is kept.

## Sources

- [Law Society of New South Wales: A solicitor’s guide to responsible use of artificial intelligence (January 2026)](https://www.lawsociety.com.au/sites/default/files/2026-01/20260109%20LS4816_PSU_GuidetoAI_2026-01-08a%20FINALv2.pdf) (Law Society of New South Wales)
- [Queensland Law Society Guidance Statement No 37: Artificial intelligence in legal practice](https://www.qls.com.au/practising-law-in-qld/ethics/guidance-statements/no-37-artificial-intelligence-in-legal-practice) (Queensland Law Society)
- [Law Society of New South Wales: digital document guidelines (October 2025)](https://www.lawsociety.com.au/sites/default/files/2025-10/LS4790_PSU_DigitisationGuidance_2025-10-22.pdf) (Law Society of New South Wales)
- [Law Society of Western Australia: responsible and ethical use of AI](https://lawsocietywa.asn.au/Web/Web/Resources/Practical-Guidance/AI-hub/responsible-and-ethical-use-of-ai.aspx) (Law Society of Western Australia)

## Questions

**Is this legal advice?**

No. These notes are general information about using AI in legal work in Australia. They are not advice on a matter, a client or a court.

**Who can read a note I save?**

Only the account that saved it. A note on this public page is different: anyone can read it. Your own notes are not published.

**What should I leave out of a saved note?**

Leave out a client’s name, a file number and other personal information unless you mean to store it on this account.